Rating Rationale
July 30, 2020 | Mumbai
Bangalore International Airport Limited
Rating Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.12114 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA/Negative (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL's rating on long term bank facilities of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) continues to reflect the BIAL group's diversified revenue profile with regulated returns on its regulatory asset base (RAB) under hybrid till mechanism, strong market position being an operator of the largest airport in South India, and strong financial profile. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to regulatory risks and susceptibility to risks associated with the implementation of large expansion plans.
 
CRISIL had on June 17, 2020, removed its rating from 'Rating Watch with Negative Implications' on the long-term bank facilities of BIAL and had reaffirmed the long-term rating at 'CRISIL AA', while assigning the 'Negative' outlook.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the rating, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of BIAL and its subsidiary, Bangalore Airport Hotel Ltd (BAHL), as these entities, together referred to as the BIAL group, are commonly managed and have significant financial linkages.

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
* Strong market position as the operator of the largest airport in South India: BIAL operates the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, which is the third largest airport in India, with a capacity to handle 20 million passengers per annum. In FY 2020, the company handled 3.2 crore passengers. Further, Bengaluru's favorable demographics, presence of a large information technology (IT) base, and healthy office-space absorption, among other factors have driven strong traffic growth of over 20% annually for 5 years ending fiscal 2020. These factors are expected to restore strong past traffic growth post normalcy of operations.
 
* Regulated returns in the form of aero revenue: Revenue is split between aero and non-aero streams. The former segment, which comprises passenger fees, landing and parking charges and fueling charges, is fairly visible and stable. It is regulated by the AERA, which allows for a stable return on aero assets and true-up of aero revenue. The non-aero revenue segment is well-diversified, with revenue from varied activities such as food & beverages, retail, duty-free shops, advertising, and incomes from flight kitchen, car parking, and ATM/forex services. This segment, which remains largely unregulated, has grown at a compound annual rate of over 20% during the last three fiscals and contributed nearly 48% of total revenues in fiscal 2020. Additionally, BIAL also has the right to develop about 462 acres of land around Bangalore airport enhancing its financial flexibility.
 
* Healthy debt service metrics over debt tenor: Although BIAL's aero revenues have declined as per the latest tariff order for second control period, ending fiscal 2021. Continued healthy growth in traffic coupled with sizeable revenue from non-aero segment and anticipated increase in aero revenue from third control period (expected to begin from April 2021 onwards) will help maintain comfortable debt service coverage ratio over debt tenor extending till fiscal 2034
 
Weaknesses
* Exposure to risks associated with implementation of large expansion plans: Capex of around Rs. 13352crore is to be undertaken till end of fiscal 2022 to build a new runway and the second terminal building. Thus, the group remains exposed to risks associated with timely completion of the project such as cost overruns, or disallowance of certain costs as a pass-through in tariff. Nevertheless, CRISIL derives comfort from experience of management, gained from implementation of the greenfield project Terminal-1 and its subsequent expansion. Capex is expected to be funded through a debt-to-equity ratio of 4:1, with internal cash accrual to cover the equity requirement. The construction progress remain on track with runway commissioning achieved before time within fiscal 2020.
 
* Exposure to regulatory risks: The regulatory regime for domestic airport operators is evolving. Although, regulations have been largely favorable for the developers, some risks associated with regulatory uncertainty persist. Extension of timelines in the tariff setting process and approval for cost overrun for capex, if any, are the open risks currently. This can be seen from the fact that tariff order for the second control period (April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2021) was delayed for ~30 months and was implemented in September 2018.
 
BIAL's RAB would increase substantially with the start of third control period and tariffs are expected to increase in the third control period, hence timely implementation of the third control period tariff order will be critical. Management has represented that the multi-year tariff proposal (MYTP) submission will be completed by September 2020 and tariff order would start from scheduled time of April 2021. Any delays in approval and start of third control period tariff order will be a rating sensitivity factor.
Liquidity Strong

BIAL has unencumbered cash and equivalents of ~Rs 583 crore (including ~Rs 258 crore for operational purposes) as of 30 April, 2020. The company has debt servicing obligations of ~Rs 18crore per month over fiscal 2021. It is expected that capex would be met through additional debt drawdowns.

Outlook: Negative

Reflects possibility of slower than expected recovery in air traffic and non-aero revenues, due to continued uncertainty stemming from COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in weaker than expected financial profile over medium and long term. 
 
Rating sensitivity factors
Upward factors
* Normalization of air traffic & non-aero revenues in FY 22 (compared with total traffic levels of 32 million & total non-aero revenue of Rs 700 Cr in FY 20)
* Timely release of control period 3 tariff order (expected to start from April 1, 2021) allowing capex recognition and true-up

Downward factors
* Delay in normalization of air traffic and non-aero revenue in FY 22 (compared with total traffic levels of 32 million & total non-aero revenue of Rs 700 Cr in FY 20) leading to material deterioration in credit profile
* Increase in regulatory risks such as sharp drop in aero revenue entitlement or delay in control period 3 (expected to start from April 1, 2021) which is expected to lead to an decrease in aero revenue collections
* Higher-than-expected cash outflow to group entities in the form of dividend or inter-group transactions

About the Group

BIAL, sponsored by a consortium comprising Fairfax (54% holding), Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (20%), Airports Authority of India (AAI) (13% holding) and Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIIDC) (13% holding), is the developer-operator of the greenfield international airport at Bengaluru, under a 30-year concession (extendable for further period of 30 years at BIAL's option) awarded by the Government of India (GoI) starting from 2008.  It has an annual design capacity of 2.65crore (based on number of passengers that can be handled in peak hours) as on date.
 
BAHL is the developer of the hotel situated near the Kempegowda International Airport. The airport is being operated by the Taj group, and has commenced operations from October 2016.

Key Financial Indicators - (Consolidated numbers)
Particulars Unit 2019 2018
Revenue Rs crore 1,493 1,561
Profit after tax (PAT) Rs crore 626.4 799.9
PAT margin % 42 51
Adjusted debt/adjusted net worth Times 0.60 0.77
Interest coverage Times 5.9 6.1

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments and are included (where applicable) in the Annexure -- Details of Instrument in this Rating Rationale. For more details on the CRISIL complexity levels, please visit www.crisil.com/complexity-levels.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of Instrument Date of Allotment Coupon
Rate (%)
Maturity Date Issue Size
(Rs. Cr)
Complexity Level Rating Assigned  with Outlook
NA Term Loan NA NA Jun-34 12,019.74 NA CRISIL AA/Negative
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 50.0 NA CRISIL AA/Negative
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 44.26 NA CRISIL AA/Negative
 
Annexure - List of entities consolidated
Names of Entities Consolidated Extent of Consolidation Rationale for Consolidation
Bangalore International Airport Limited Full Common management and significant financial linkages
Bangalore Airport Hotels Limited Full Common management and significant financial linkages
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  12114.00  CRISIL AA/Negative  17-06-20  CRISIL AA/Negative  31-07-19  CRISIL AA/Stable  22-10-18  CRISIL AA/Stable  30-06-17  CRISIL AA/Stable  -- 
        27-03-20  CRISIL AA/Watch Negative      19-10-18  CRISIL AA/Stable       
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
Cash Credit 50 CRISIL AA/Negative Cash Credit 50 CRISIL AA/Negative
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 44.26 CRISIL AA/Negative Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 33.59 CRISIL AA/Negative
Term Loan 12019.74 CRISIL AA/Negative Term Loan 12030.41 CRISIL AA/Negative
Total 12114 -- Total 12114 --
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation

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