Rating Rationale
May 28, 2020 | Mumbai
Uflex Limited
Ratings continues on 'Watch Developing
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.2200 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL A (Continues on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications')
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1 (Continues on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications')
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL's ratings on the bank facilities of Uflex Limited (Uflex; part of the Uflex group) remain on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications'.
 
The ratings had been placed on watch following an update by the company on February 13, 2020, informing that it was proposing a brownfield expansion at its step-down subsidiary, Flex Films Europa, Poland.
 
The company plans to expand the existing capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of BOPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) films in Poland to 72,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). The total investment outlay expected for this is euro 55 million. Capital expenditure (capex) plans also includes various other expansions in Nigeria, Hungary and Russia, over the medium term.
 
CRISIL is continuing discussions with the management on the operationalisation of these expansions, their terms of funding and their impact on the financial and business risk profile of the group. CRISIL will remove the ratings from watch once there is full clarity on these aspects.
 
The ratings continue to reflect an established presence in the flexible packaging industry, diversified customer and product profiles, and a comfortable financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by working capital-intensive operations, exposure to demand related risks for the new liquid packaging plant, and susceptibility to the cyclical and commoditised nature of the packaging films industry.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of Uflex and all its Indian and foreign subsidiaries, and step down subsidiaries, together referred to as the Uflex group, on account of operational, management and financial linkages among them.

Please refer Annexure - List of entities consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Established market position in the flexible packaging industry: The Uflex group is one of the largest players in the flexible packaging industry with a strong market presence in both the domestic and overseas markets through subsidiaries in Egypt, Dubai, Mexico, the US and Poland. Revenue of the group was around Rs 7,909 crore in fiscal 2019 as against Rs 6,689 crore in the previous fiscal.
 
* Diversified product and customer profiles: The group has a presence throughout the value chain in flexible packaging. It provides complete end-to-end packaging solutions ranging from , flexible packaging intermediate products (packaging machines, holograms, inks & adhesives, cylinders)  to end or final products (packaging films ,multi layer laminates and liquid packs). Over the years, it has developed a reputed and diversified customer base, catering to leading players in the packaging films, flexible packaging and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industries. Also, customer concentration risk is low.
 
* Comfortable financial risk profile: The capital structure was comfortable with the gearing at 0.46 time and 0.41 time and as on September 30, 2019, and March 31, 2019, respectively. Debt protection metrics were strong, with interest coverage ratio at 4.87 times and 4.62 times for the nine months through December 2019 and fiscal 2019, respectively.
 
Weaknesses
* Working capital-intensive operations: Gross current assets were 156 days, driven by debtors of 97 days and inventory of 44 days, as on March 31, 2019. Working capital requirement is partially supported by credit of 70-90 days from suppliers.
 
* Exposure to demand-related risks for the new liquid packaging plant: The plant for liquid packaging products in Gujarat started operations in March 2018, but is yet to fully stabilise and generate profits. The demand-related risks for the plant are high as the group needs long-term tie-ups with customers in order to turn profitable and support overall liquidity. Though it has tied up with a few customers, significant volume ramp up is needed over the medium term.
 
* Cyclical and commoditised nature of the packaging films industry: The BOPP (biaxially-oriented polypropylene) and BOPET industry is cyclical. Product realisations have fluctuated in the past, depending on the demand-supply gap. Moreover, the industry has a tendency to add large capacities when there is an improvement in prices, resulting in overcapacity and hence, pressure on realisations. Also, because of the commoditised nature of the packaging business, players have little scope for passing on increase in raw material costs (accounting for 65-75% of net sales), making them highly susceptible to volatility in raw material prices. Thus, the operating margin is susceptible to fluctuations in both product realisations and input costs.
Liquidity Strong

Bank limit utilisation was low with average fund-based and non-fund-based limit utilisation at 74% and 45%, respectively, during the 12 months through March 2020. The current ratio of 1.4 times as on March 31, 2019, is estimated to have been maintained as on March 31, 2020.

Rating Sensitivity Factors
Upward Factors
* Stabilization of the proposed capex resulting into significant scaling up of operations and improved profitability levels.
* Improvement in working capital cycle by more than 25%.

Downward Factors
* Reduction in cushion available in cash accruals against expected debt obligation for fiscal 2022 and onwards.
* Deterioration of gearing to over of 1 time with erosion in EBIDTA margins.

About the Group

Promoted and founded in 1985 by Mr Ashok Chaturvedi, the Uflex group offers end-to-end flexible packaging solutions including films (BOPET, BOPP, CPP [cast polypropylene]  and metallised), flexible laminates, holographic films, aseptic liquid packaging, packaging and printing machines, and inks and adhesives, catering mainly to the FMCG industry. The company is headquartered at Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and has manufacturing facilities in India, Dubai, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and the US.
 
For the nine months through December 2019, revenue and profit after tax (PAT) were Rs 5,644 crore and Rs 270 crore, respectively, as against Rs 5,890 crore and Rs 244 crore, respectively, for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators - Consolidated
Particulars Unit 2019 2018
Revenue Rs.Crore 7909 6688.9
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs.Crore 315 312.2
PAT Margin % 4.0 4.7
Adjusted debt/adjusted Networth Times 0.5 0.5
Interest coverage Times 4.34 4.5

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments. The CRISIL complexity levels are available on www.crisil.com/complexity-levels. Users are advised to refer to the CRISIL complexity levels for instruments that they consider for investment. Users may also call the Customer Service Helpdesk with queries on specific instruments.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of instrument Date of allotment Coupon
rate (%)
Maturity date Issue
size
(Rs.Crore)
Rating assigned with outlook
NA Long Term Loan NA NA Sept-2027 923.0 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
NA Working Capital
Facility
NA NA NA 775.0 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
NA Letter of Credit NA NA NA 25.0 CRISIL A1/Watch Developing
NA Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limits NA NA NA 477.0 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
 
Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated
Names of entities consolidated Extent of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
Uflex Ltd Full consolidation Holding company
USC Holograms Pvt Ltd Full consolidation Subsidiary
S.D.Buildwell Pvt Ltd  Full consolidation Subsidiary
Flex Middle East FZE  Full consolidation Subsidiary
Flex Films Europa Sp. Z.o.o. Full consolidation Subsidiary
Flex Films (USA) Inc  Full consolidation Subsidiary
UFlex Europe Ltd  Full consolidation Subsidiary
Flex P. Films Egypt S.A.E.  Full consolidation Subsidiary
UFLEX Packaging Inc. Full consolidation Subsidiary
UPET Holdings Ltd  Full consolidation Subsidiary
Upet Singapore Pte Ltd  Full consolidation Subsidiary
Flex P. Films (Brasil) Commercio De Films Plasticos Ltda Full consolidation Subsidiary
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  2175.00  CRISIL A/(Watch) Developing  24-02-20  CRISIL A/Watch Developing  14-05-19  CRISIL A/Stable    --    --  -- 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  25.00  CRISIL A1/(Watch) Developing  24-02-20  CRISIL A1/Watch Developing  14-05-19  CRISIL A1    --    --  -- 
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Letter of Credit 25 CRISIL A1/Watch Developing Letter of Credit 25 CRISIL A1/Watch Developing
Long Term Loan 923 CRISIL A/Watch Developing Long Term Loan 923 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limits 477 CRISIL A/Watch Developing Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limits 477 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
Working Capital Facility 775 CRISIL A/Watch Developing Working Capital Facility 775 CRISIL A/Watch Developing
Total 2200 -- Total 2200 --
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
Rating criteria for manufaturing and service sector companies
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt
The Rating Process
Understanding CRISILs Ratings and Rating Scales

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