Rating Rationale
December 30, 2019 | Mumbai
United Spirits Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Positive'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.3925 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA+/Positive (Outlook revised from 'Stable' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
 
Rs.750 Crore Non Convertible Debentures CRISIL AA+/Positive (Outlook revised from 'Stable' and rating reaffirmed) 
Rs.1500 Crore Commercial Paper CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised its outlook on the long term bank facilities and non convertible debentures of United Spirits Limited (USL) to 'Positive' from 'Stable' while reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL AA+'. The short term rating and commercial paper has been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A1+'. 

The outlook revision reflects the expectation of improvement in USL's credit profile, commensurate with better cash accrual and leverage over the medium term. USL's standalone earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin improved to 18.0% in the first half of fiscal 2020 (14.3% in fiscal 2019) from 12.6% in fiscal 2018. The improvement in operating margin is driven by the increasing share of the premium segment, optimisation of operating overheads, and employee costs. USL has been particularly successful in gradually shifting its product portfolio towards the luxury, premium, and prestige segments. These segments inherently have better margin and are more price inelastic, enabling USL to increase the prices and, thus, realisations. The share of prestige & above segments in net sales increased to 67% in the first half of fiscal 2020 (63% in fiscal 2019) from 58% in fiscal 2018.

With healthy accrual and moderate capital expenditure (capex), USL's debt/EBITDA is likely to remain below 1.5 times over the medium term. Capex is estimated at a moderate Rs 250-300 crore per fiscal, likely to be funded through internal cash accrual. USL reduced its debt significantly to Rs 2,630 crore as on September 30, 2019, from Rs 3,418 crore as on March 31, 2018.

The ratings reflect USL's leadership position in the spirits industry in India, strong and diversified product portfolio, and operational and technical support it receives from its parent, Diageo plc (rated A-/Stable/A2 by S&P Global). These strengths are partially offset by highly controlled regulatory regime in the industry and exposure to intense competition.

Analytical Approach
For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of USL and its subsidiaries, as they are in the same line of business and have close business linkages between them. The rating also factors the support USL receives from its ultimate parent, Diageo plc, who holds a 55.24% stake in the company. USL is strategically important to Diageo's growth plans, as both are in same line of business, and the former contributes to 7.75% of the latter's net sales and is central to its growth strategy.

Please refer Annexure - Details of Consolidation, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation
Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths:
* Leadership position in the spirits industry in India: USL's strong brand equity, leading position in the Indian spirits markets, solid revenue base, healthy profitability owing to its broad spread of products across categories and price points, and well-balanced geographic presence underpin our assessment of the group's business risk profile as strong.
 
* Strong and diversified product portfolio with well-established brands: USL benefits from strong brand awareness based on a rich portfolio of well-recognised brands across price categories, along with a growing volume share in the premium segment. The company has an outstanding portfolio of premium brands, such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Smirnoff, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, and McDowell's No.1, among others.
 
* Operational and technical support it receives from its parent, Diageo plc: Being a part of Diageo, USL receives adequate support along with strong business synergies. USL has gradually implemented Diageo's global best practices across its functions. The company also receives strong management and operational support from the parent, in addition to the comfortable financial flexibility.
 
Weakness:
* Operating in a highly controlled regulatory environment: In the past, the liquor industry has witnessed disruptive years such as fiscal 2018 on account of implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and a Supreme Court ruling banning liquor vendors within 500 meters of national and state highways, which impacted c.30,000 stores (30-40% of the total liquor vendors). As a result, volume of popular brands remained flat in fiscal 2018. Moreover, increase in taxes in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra in recent years and entry/exit taxes on cross-border sale of alcohol impact margin.
Liquidity Superior

USL enjoys healthy liquidity driven by expected cash accruals of more than Rs 1,000 crore per annum in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 and cash and cash equivalents of Rs 359 crore as on March 31, 2019. USL also has access to fund based limits of Rs 3,625 crore, utilized to the tune of 26% on an average over the 12 months ended September 2019. The company has long term repayment obligations of around Rs 750 crore in fiscal 2021 along with estimated capex of Rs 250-300 crore per annum. These are expected to be financed through internal accruals. Outstanding CP to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore as on September 30, 2019 is backed by unutilized bank lines and is expected to be rolled over on maturity. Its bank lines are expected to meet its incremental working capital requirements.

Outlook: Positive

CRISIL believes USL may sustain its improved operating performance, supported by favourable change in the product mix and cost efficiency over the medium term.

Rating Sensitivity factors
Upward Factors:
* Upgrade in rating of the parent by S&P by at least one notch
* Sustained improvement in cash accrual, led by operating margin over 15% and revenue growth
* Higher-than-expected reduction in debt leading to improved capital structure, backed by better profitability

Downward Factors:
* Downgrade in rating of the parent by S&P by one notch or more
* Debt/EBITDA exceeding beyond 2 times on a sustained basis
About the Company

USL is the largest Indian spirits company involved in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of beverage alcohol, producing and selling around 82 million cases of Scotch whisky, IMFL whisky, brandy, rum, vodka, gin, and wine annually. The company has an outstanding portfolio of premium brands, such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Smirnoff, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, and McDowell's No.1, among others.

The company has 11 brands that sell more than a million cases each year, of which 2 brands each sell more than 10 million cases annually. The company has a strong distribution network and point of sale coverage and is represented in 65,000+ outlets across India. It has 16 own manufacturing facilities across 10 states and 1 union territory in India.

For the six months ended September 2019, the company reported consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 339 crore on operating income of Rs 4,747 crore against PAT of Rs 365 crore on operating income of Rs 4,509 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators*
As on/for the period ended March 31 Unit 2019 2018
Net Sales Rs crore 9,341 8,591
Profit after tax Rs crore 684 652
PAT margin % 7.3 7.6
Adjusted debt/Adjusted networth Times 0.93 1.41
Interest coverage Times 5.88 5.24
*Consolidated

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 Commercial paper NA NA 7-365 days 1,500.00 CRISIL A1+
INE854D08011 Non-Convertible Debentures 28-Dec-17 7.45 28-Dec-20 750.00 CRISIL AA+/Positive
NA Fund-Based Facilities** NA NA NA 3,125.00 CRISIL AA+/Positive
NA Non-Fund-Based Limit ^ NA NA NA 500.00 CRISIL A1+
NA Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limit NA NA NA 300.00 CRISIL AA+/Positive
**Interchangeable with non-fund based limit
^ Interchangeable with fund based limit
 
Annexure - List of entities consolidated
Names of Entities Consolidated Extent of Consolidation Rationale for Consolidation
Asian Opportunities & Investments Limited, Palmer Investment Group Limited, Tern Distilleries Private Limited, Shaw Wallace Overseas Limited, UB Sports Management Overseas Limited (Formerly known as JIHL Nominees Limited), Montrose International S.A, USL Holdings Limited, USL Holdings (UK) Limited, United Spirits (UK) Limited, United Spirits (Great Britain) Limited, Four Seasons Wines Limited, McDowell & Co. (Scotland) Limited, Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, Liquidity Inc, United Spirits (Shanghai) Trading Company Limited, Sovereign Distilleries Limited, Pioneer Distilleries Limited, United Spirits Singapore Trading Pte Ltd (Formerly known as Whyte and Mackay Singapore Pte Ltd). Fully consolidated Same line of business and close business linkages between them and USL
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2019 (History) 2018  2017  2016  Start of 2016
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Commercial Paper  ST  1500.00  CRISIL A1+      13-12-18  CRISIL A1+  14-11-17  CRISIL A1+    --  -- 
            30-11-18  CRISIL A1+  25-10-17  CRISIL A1+       
Non Convertible Debentures  LT  750.00
27-12-19 
CRISIL AA+/Positive      13-12-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable  14-11-17  CRISIL AA+/Stable    --  -- 
            30-11-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable           
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  3425.00  CRISIL AA+/Positive      13-12-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable  14-11-17  CRISIL AA+/Stable    --  -- 
            30-11-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable           
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  500.00  CRISIL A1+      13-12-18  CRISIL A1+  14-11-17  CRISIL A1+    --  -- 
            30-11-18  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
Fund-Based Facilities** 3125 CRISIL AA+/Positive Fund-Based Facilities** 2925 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Non-Fund Based Limit^ 500 CRISIL A1+ Non-Fund Based Limit^ 500 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limits 300 CRISIL AA+/Positive Proposed Fund-Based Bank Limits 500 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Total 3925 -- Total 3925 --
**Interchangeable with non-fund based limit
^ Interchangeable with fund based limit
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
Rating criteria for manufaturing and service sector companies
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
Criteria for Notching up Stand Alone Ratings of Companies based on Parent Support

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