Rating Rationale
December 12, 2024 | Mumbai
D-Link India Limited
Rating Reaffirmed and Withdrawn
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities RatedRs.10 Crore
Long Term RatingCRISIL A/Stable (Rating Reaffirmed and Withdrawn)
Note: None of the Directors on CRISIL Ratings Limited’s Board are members of rating committee and thus do not participate in discussion or assignment of any ratings. The Board of Directors also does not discuss any ratings at its meetings.
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to Annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities

Detailed Rationale

CRISIL Ratings has reaffirmed its rating on the long-term bank facility of D-Link India Ltd (D-Link) and simultaneously withdrawn its rating on the request from the company and on receipt of ‘no objection certificate’ from the lenders. The action is in line with the withdrawal policy of CRISIL Ratings.

 

On the high base of fiscal 2023, revenue grew a moderate 5% year-on-year to Rs 1,236 crore in fiscal 2024. In the first half of fiscal 2025, revenue grew by 12% driven by price hikes taken in March 2024 along with steady volume growth. Revenue is expected to expand by ~11% in fiscal 2025 on account of increase in volumes and healthy realisations. Thereafter, revenue growth could be moderate at 7-8%, due to a high base and increased competition. Operating profitability sustained around 9.7% in fiscal 2024 driven by the maintenance of healthy realisations by passing raw material price hikes to customers along with benefitting from rupee depreciation. Although margins moderated in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 owing to the steep increase in copper prices (which is a raw material for the cabling business), the price hikes taken in March 2024 led to an improvement in margins in the first half of fiscal 2025 to ~9%. Going forward, margins are expected to remain around 9% aided by stabilisation of copper prices although restricted by the highly competitive intensity in the business.

 

D-Link has continually strived to diversify its product offerings and thereby reduce its dependence on its parent, D-Link Corporation (Taiwan). Transactions with the parent are limited to product purchases wherein a royalty is paid for the third-party purchase for using trademark. Any significant cash payout could materially impact the financial risk profile of the company and would be a key monitorable.

 

D-Link maintains healthy liquidity position, as reflected in cash and equivalent of Rs 225 crore as on March 31, 2024. Absence of debt with no major capital expenditure (capex) provides enough financial flexibility to absorb any business shocks.

 

The rating continues to reflect the company’s established market position and strong distribution network across India, along with healthy financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to intense competition and volatility in input price and currency.

Analytical Approach

CRISIL Ratings has combined the business and financial risk profiles of D-Link and its wholly owned subsidiary, TeamF1 Networks Pvt Ltd (Team F1).

 

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 and strong distribution network: D-Link is the market leader in switches and wireless local area network (WLAN) products, with a significant market share. In fiscal 2019, the company introduced a series of high-end products for its enterprise business, including unmanaged long-term power over ethernet (PoE)/PoE plus switches; new generation layer 3 stackable managed switches with advance hardware and software enhancements for better performance, flexibility and ease of management; and industrial grade switches. D-Link has invested in state-of-the-art support infrastructure for both consumers and enterprises, which includes 10 D-Link-owned service centres with more than 50 experts in tier 1 cities, over 23 partner service centres with more than 40 experts in tier 2 / tier 3 cities, partner collection points in more than 105 cities and logistical support in over 190 cities. D-Link Technical Support Centres (DTSC) are manned by over 30 highly skilled engineers providing L1 to L3 support for all retail and enterprise customers.

 

  • Healthy financial risk profile: Networth was Rs 420 crore as on March 31, 2024, and is expected to increase over the medium term because of steady accretion to reserve and absence of debt repayment. In the absence of any debt-funded capital expenditure (capex), financial risk profile is expected to remain healthy over the medium term.

 

Weaknesses:

  • Exposure to intense competition and risks inherent in the networking industry: D-Link mainly operates in the home and small and medium enterprise segments of the networking industry, where profitability is lower than that in the institutional sales segment. The latter is dominated by Cisco India and other new entrants. Profitability in the retail segment is constrained by intense competition and commoditised products.

 

  • Susceptibility to volatility in input price and currency: Copper, the key input for manufacturing cables is an open market commodity traded globally on exchanges, leading to volatility in its prices. Furthermore, fluctuations in currency also impact profitability, as the company imports about 30% of its traded products. Complete and immediate passing on of cost increases is difficult given the competitive pressure. The company experiences a lag of 45-60 days in passing on price hikes. Hence, operating margin will remain susceptible to fluctuations in raw material prices and currency. D-Link hedges currency exposure up to 70% of the total exposure by entering in to forward contracts.

Liquidity: Adequate

Cash accrual, expected at Rs 70-80 crore in fiscals 2025 and 2026, will support liquidity in the absence of any capex or debt obligation. Unutilised bank limit of Rs 10 crore will be adequate to fund the company’s fixed expenses. Cash surplus is expected to remain healthy over the medium term.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL Ratings believes D-Link will continue to benefit from its established market position and strong distribution network. Furthermore, the financial risk profile is expected to remain healthy on account of a debt-free balance sheet and absence of any major capex.

Rating sensitivity factors

Upward factors:

  • Sustained annual revenue growth of over 20% coupled with healthy operating margin of above 8%
  • Efficient working capital management and higher cash accrual strengthening the financial risk profile

 

Downward factors:

  • Significant decline in revenue and fall in the operating margin to below 4%
  • Stretch in the working capital cycle, weakening liquidity and the financial risk profile
  • Any significant unexpected cash outflow by way of dividend impacting the financial risk profile

About the Company

Incorporated in 2008, D-Link is a step-down subsidiary of D-Link Corporation. The company markets networking products of the parent and procures from third-party vendors. The product profile comprises network switches, wireless local area networks, routers, modems, storage devices, copper and fibre cables and cameras. In 2010, D-Link began marketing structured cabling products procured from third-party vendors.

 

In January 2014, D-Link acquired Team F1, a company that specialises in providing network and security software for embedded devices. The consideration for the acquisition was in the form of equity shares of D-Link, which resulted in the equity stake of D-Link Corporation in D-Link reducing to 51% from 60%.

 

D-Link Corporation, founded in 1986, is a multinational company that designs, markets and manufactures networking equipment and has presence across 100 countries.

Key Financial Indicators

Particulars

Unit

2024

2023

Revenue

Rs crore

1236

1181

Profit after tax (PAT)

Rs crore

93

86

PAT margin

%

7.5

7.3

Adjusted gearing

Times

0

0

Interest coverage

Times

126

197

Any other information: Not Applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL Ratings` 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.

CRISIL Ratings will disclose complexity level for all securities - including those that are yet to be placed - based on available information. The complexity level for instruments may be updated, where required, in the rating rationale published subsequent to the issuance of the instrument when details on such features are available.

For more details on the CRISIL Ratings` complexity levels please visit www.crisilratings.com. 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) Complexity Levels Rating Outstanding with Outlook
NA Cash Credit & Working Capital Demand Loan NA NA NA 10.00 NA CRISIL A/Stable (Rating Reaffirmed and Withdrawn)

Annexure – List of entities consolidated

Names of Entities Consolidated

Extent of Consolidation

Rationale for Consolidation

Team F1 Networks Pvt Ltd

Fully

Common management and promoters.

Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2024 (History) 2023  2022  2021  Start of 2021
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund Based Facilities LT 10.0 CRISIL A/Stable (Rating Reaffirmed and Withdrawn)   -- 14-09-23 CRISIL A/Stable 27-06-22 CRISIL A/Stable 27-04-21 CRISIL A/Stable CRISIL A/Stable
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Annexure - Details of Bank Lenders & Facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Name of Lender Rating
Cash Credit & Working Capital Demand Loan 10 HDFC Bank Limited CRISIL A/Stable (Rating Reaffirmed and Withdrawn)
Criteria Details
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
Criteria for rating trading companies
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation

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