Rating Rationale
May 21, 2020 | Mumbai
3i Infotech Limited
Rating Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.387.81 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB-/Stable (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its rating on the long-term bank facilities of 3i Infotech Limited (3i Infotech) at 'CRISIL BBB-/Stable'.
 
The rating reflects that the minimal impact of Novel Covid-19 on the company's business, given that 95% operations are continuing with employees working from home. Though revenue growth would be lower as new deals may take longer to finalize, the company would be able to generate sufficient cash accruals to manage its debt repayments of Rs 101 crore in and additional working capital in fiscal 2021. The company also continues to receive the collections on a timely basis which supports cash flows.
 
In fiscal 2020, the company's profitability is expected steady at 13% though consolidated revenues are expected to be flat as compared to fiscal 2019. This is on account of sale of the non-core business Locuz Enterprises in December 2019.
 
Over the medium term, 3i Infotech's strategy of focusing on key markets such as the United States, Middle East and higher budgeted investments towards product development will help drive revenue growth while sustaining profitability.
 
The financial risk profile has improved with steady repayment of debt as the company has reduced the external borrowings from Rs 540 cr on March 2019 to Rs 460 cr on May 2020. The trajectory is expected to continue over the medium term driven by healthy cash accruals, improving profitability, and reduction in debt.
 
The rating continues reflects 3i Infotech's diversified revenue profile, leading BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) product portfolio with healthy demand prospects and profitability, and adequate liquidity backed by steady cash generation and long tenure of borrowings. These strengths are partially offset by average financial risk profile and modest scale of operation amid intense competition in the IT industry.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the rating, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of 3i Infotech and all its subsidiaries, held directly or indirectly. This is because all the entities, collectively referred to as 3i Infotech, share a common management and are in the same business.

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: 
* Diversified revenue profile: Clients are spread across geographies and in multiple verticals such as banking, finance, insurance, and manufacturing. Wide product range reduces concentration risk and offsets slowdown in any particular segment. Also, presence in both the product and service segments gives the company an edge over other domestic competitors as most information technology (IT) companies in India are service centric. Steady revenue from annual maintenance charges in the products business provides stability to cash flow.
 
* Leading BFSI product portfolio with healthy demand prospects and profitability: The company's products, PREMIA and MFund, are among the leading in their segments in India. Product portfolio has strong intellectual property and boasts of healthy profitability. Within IT services and solutions, BFSI is the largest vertical, contributing to more than 50% of revenue. On average, banks and financial institutions spend 7-8% of revenue on IT, which is the highest customer spend among all verticals. Out of BFSI's IT budget, about 20% is allocated to buying new software or upgrading existing software. Revenue prospects for IT product firms focusing on BFSI is expected to remain healthy, driven by continued high spending, increasing adoption of digital technologies, and expected increase in penetration.
 
* Adequate liquidity backed by steady cash flow and debt repayment tenure: Liquidity is supported by steady cash accrual. Long tenure of repayment schedules approved under DRS for both term loans as well as preference share capital provide financial flexibility and partly offset effects of a leveraged financial risk profile. The cash surplus was comfortable at Rs 102 cr as on September 30, 2019.
 
Weaknesses:
* Average financial risk profile: Long term debt is Rs 540 crore and preference share capital Rs 342 crore against a small networth of Rs 214 crore, as on March 31, 2019. Hence, gearing is high at 4.2 times. Large debt and modest profitability have led to subdued debt protection metrics, reflected in interest coverage and net cash accrual to total debt ratios of 1.96 times and 0.13 time, respectively, for fiscal 2019. Interest coverage ratio without considering the notional interest on preference shares would be about 3.69 times in fiscal 2019. With steady cash accrual and repayments, the gearing is expected to reach 2.81 times by fiscal 2020.
 
* Modest scale of operations amid intense competition: Small scale is a constraining factor in an industry wherein economies of scale matter. With global majors such as Computer Science Corporation and International Business Machine Corporation having an established base in India and many companies shifting to an offshore revenue model, competition in the domestic market is intensifying. 3i Infotech is a medium-sized player and its revenue and operating profitability are likely to be constrained.
Liquidity Adequate

Cash and equivalents is expected to be about Rs 70-80 cr as on March 31, 2020, and the annual cash generation in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 is expected to be about Rs 120 -150 cr. These funds should be sufficient to meet debt obligation of Rs 101 crore till March 31, 2021. Moreover, no capex is expected over the medium term, other than maintenance capex of about Rs 5-6 crore. The incremental working capital requirement is also expected to be negligible and likely to be managed through internal accrual. Currently, the company has limited access to fund-based working capital limits and is managing its working capital majorly through internal sources.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes 3i Infotech will sustain improvement in business and financial risk profiles over the medium term, backed by healthy revenue growth, improving profitability, and reduction in debt.

Rating Sensitivity factors
Upwards factors
* Sustaining EBIDTA at 16%
* Reducing Gearing below 1.0 time
 
Downward factors
* Annual net cash accrual falling below Rs 110 cr
* Increase in debt due to new capex or expansion.
About the Company

3i Infotech (formerly, ICICI Infotech Ltd) was set up in 1993 by the erstwhile ICICI Ltd as a back-office processing company. The entity has presence across the globe with delivery centres in South Asia, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, North America, and Western Europe. It offers a range of IT products and services. Its IT product solutions include applications for the banking, financial, and insurance sectors, and an enterprise resource planning suite of applications. The IT services include application development and maintenance, IT consulting, infrastructure management services, business intelligence and enterprise applications, and offshore and onsite support (through its business process outsourcing operations).

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars Unit 2019 2018
Revenue Rs Crore 1121 991
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs Crore 68 71
PAT Margins % 6.1 7.2
Adjusted Debt/Adjusted Networth Times 4.00 6.10
Interest Coverage Times 3.15 3.08
 
Particulars Unit 9M-20 9M-19
Revenue Rs Crore 864 822
Profit After Tax( PAT) Rs Crore 43 33
PAT Margins % 5.0 4.0
Interest Coverage Times 3.91 2.70

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 Cr) Rating Assigned
with Outlook
NA Term Loan NA NA Mar-2024 380.30 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Proposed Term Loan NA NA NA 7.51 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
 
Annexure - List of entities consolidated
Entities Consolidated Extent of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
3i Infotech Consultancy Services Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech SPO Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Professional Access Software Development Private Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Middle East) FZ LLC Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Software Solutions LLC Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Inc Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech SDN BHD Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i lnfotech Thailand) Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Asia Pacific Pte Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Services SDN BHD Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech UK Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Ji Infotech Western Europe) Group Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Western Europe Holdings Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Rhyme Systems Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Saudi Arabia LLC Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Holdings Private Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Ji Infotech Africa Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech (South Africa) (Pry) Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Elegon Infotech Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
Locuz Inc. Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Cyprus) Limited (formerly known as Black-Barret Holdings Limited) Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech Netherlands B.V. Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i lnfotech Nigeria Limited Full Wholly owned subsidiary
3i Infotech (Canada) Inc Full Wholly owned 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
Commercial Paper  ST    --    --    --    --  30-11-17  Withdrawal  CRISIL D 
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  387.81  CRISIL BBB-/Stable      19-06-19  CRISIL BBB-/Stable  31-05-18  CRISIL BBB-/Stable  30-11-17  CRISIL BB/Stable  CRISIL D/ CRISIL D 
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
Proposed Term Loan 7.51 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Proposed Term Loan 7.51 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Term Loan 380.3 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Term Loan 380.3 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Total 387.81 -- Total 387.81 --
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
Rating Criteria for Software Industry
CRISILs Approach to Recognising Default
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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