Rating Rationale
May 15, 2020 | Mumbai
The KCP Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Stable'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.879.19 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL A-/Stable (Outlook revised from 'Positive' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A2+ (Reaffirmed)
 
Rs.70 Crore Non Convertible Debentures CRISIL A-/Stable (Outlook revised from 'Positive' and rating reaffirmed)
Rs.125 Crore Fixed Deposits FA/Stable (Outlook revised from 'Positive' and rating reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised the outlook on the bank facilities, non-convertible debentures, and fixed deposits of The KCP Limited (part of the KCP group) to 'Stable' from 'Positive' while reaffirming the ratings at 'CRISIL A-/FA/CRISIL A2+'.
 
The ratings continues to factor in the group's established track record in the cement segment in South India and the sugar sector in Vietnam, and healthy financial risk profile marked by  healthy gearing. These strengths are partially offset by sub-par performance of the engineering and hotel divisions, and susceptibility to business cycles and continuing demand-supply mismatch in the South Indian cement markets.
 
Operating performance in fiscal 2021 for cement segment is likely to be impacted following measures taken by various state governments as well as central government towards containment of COVID-19 which includes temporary closure of non-critical establishments, inter-state transportation etc. along-with severe restrictions on travel and movement of people. Since these measures are imposed at a broader level and across sectors, they are expected to impact the business profile of the company in terms of temporary closure of production facility and closure of establishments of dealer-distributors-retailers. Accordingly, working capital is also expected to be elongated temporarily as a result of the lockdowns leading to pile up of inventory and slower realization of debtors. However, the same is expected to retract to normal levels once the economic activity resumes normalcy later in fiscal 2021. The ability of the business to revert back to operational stability and any relief measures given by the government will be a key monitorable, and CRISIL will continue monitoring these events.
 
Operating performance in fiscal 2020, up to Dec 2019 for which results have been declared, was impacted by subdued performance in the cement segment driven by lower demand owing to sand mining issues and lower government spending in its key markets of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Operating performance was also impacted due to lower revenue in the sugar segment given lower sugarcane yield in Vietnam.
 
Despite the weaker operating performance for the 9 month ended December 31, 2019, the financial risk profile remains strong. The ratio of net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) remained comfortable at around 2.5 times. Net debt to EBITDA is expected to improve over the medium term, driven by an improvement in operating performance of cement division, sustenance of healthy operating performance in sugar division and moderation in capex levels.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of The KCP Ltd, KCP Vietnam Industries Ltd (KCP Vietnam), and joint venture, Fives Cail KCP Ltd. This is because the three entities, collectively referred to as the KCP group, have common management and financial linkages.

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 track record in the cement and sugar businesses: Although the cement segment witnessed decline in FY 20, the company continues to have significant market footprint in the AP and Telangana region. The performance in cement segment should pick up as soon as demand revives in these geographies.
 
The group continues to benefit over the medium term from its steady revenue and profitability from the sugar division, and over the long term from its longstanding presence and expected improvement in demand outlook in the cement segment.
 
* Healthy financial risk profile: Financial risk profile is backed by steady cash accrual, healthy capital structure, and comfortable debt protection metrics. Gearing is estimated to be healthy at 0.53 time as on March 31, 2020.
 
Despite debt-funded capacity expansion, overall financial risk profile has remained stable due to healthy operating margin and cash accrual. However, Interest coverage and net cash accrual to debt ratios are expected to be impacted in fiscal 2021 due to impact of COVID 19.
 
Weaknesses:
* Weak performance of engineering and hotel businesses: The engineering and capital goods industry is highly vulnerable to economic cycles on account of its linkages to the capex plans of customers, which are affected by slowdown in industrial growth. Despite healthy order book, profitability of engineering division is expected remain subdued due to high competitive intensity.
 
The company also has operations under the hospitality segment. Even though, the Hotel is in its initial stage of operations, with the commencement of operations only in April 2016, the Company has been able to gradually ramp-up its occupancy levels.
 
CRISIL believes, in both the aforementioned segments, the performance is likely to be significantly impacted in fiscal 2021, however, overall impact on the financial risk profile is expected to be minimal since contribution of these segments is low in terms of revenue and profitability.
 
* Demand-supply mismatch in South India's cement industry: Demand in AP and Telangana de-grew in fiscal 2020 due lower government spending. As demand-supply balance improves in its key geographies, with capital construction related demand and slow capacity addition, operating performance will improve for KCP.
Liquidity Adequate

Liquidity is adequate driven by expected cash accruals of more than Rs 60 crore per annum in fiscal 2021 and estimated cash and cash equivalents of more than Rs 100 core as on March 31, 2020. The term debt repayments are expected to be partly refinanced in fiscal 2021. Its bank lines are expected to meet its incremental working capital requirements.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes KCP will be able to sustain the short term demand slowdown caused by the impact of COVID 19.

Rating Sensitivity factors
Upward factors
* Higher than expected cash generation, driven by better than expected performance in cement division and healthy performance in sugar segment
* Improvement in operating margins at around 15% on a sustainable basis.

Downward factors
* Deterioration in business risk profile on the back of slower than expected recovery in the cement segment or slowdown in the sugar segment.
*Further weakening in financial risk profile, either due to higher than expected capex or weaker than expected operating performance leading to interest cover declining below 2.8 times on a sustainable basis.
About the Group

The KCP group was founded in 1941 by Mr V Ramakrishna, a first-generation entrepreneur who began operations by setting up a sugar unit. Cement division commenced operations in 1958 and currently has two units, one each in Guntur (capacity of 0.825 MTPA) and Muktyala (3.52 MTPA); Andhra Pradesh. The heavy engineering division, set up in 1955 at Tiruvottiyur in Chennai, undertakes casting, fabrication, and machining of heavy equipment for core industries (sugar, cement, steel, and power).

For the 9 months ended December 2019, the company on a standalone basis reported a PAT loss of Rs 7 crore on operating income of Rs 683 crore, as against a PAT of Rs 28 crore on operating income of Rs 835 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars Units 2019  2018 
Revenue Rs. Cr. 1,656 1,479
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs. Cr. 110 113
PAT Margin % 6.6 7.6
Adjusted Debt/Adjusted Net worth Times 0.61 0.63
Interest coverage Times 6.09 6.17

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 Term Loan NA NA Dec-22 31.27 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Feb-22 25.55 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Sep-19 0.81 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Mar-21 22.40 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Oct-20 14.00 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Oct-24 3.38 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Mar-25 262.98 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Dec-26 59.0 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Non-Convertible debenture# NA NA NA 70.00 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 116.00 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 135.00 CRISIL A2+
NA Fund-Based
Facilities**
NA NA NA 75.00 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Proposed Cash Credit NA NA NA 45.00 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Proposed Letter of Credit &
Bank Guarantee
NA NA NA 15.00 CRISIL A2+
NA Short Term Loan NA NA NA 20.00 CRISIL A2+
NA Proposed Long Term
Bank Loan Facility
NA NA NA 53.80 CRISIL A-/Stable
NA Fixed Deposits NA NA NA 125.00 FA/Stable
#Yet to be issued
**Interchangeable with non-fund based facility.
 
Annexure - List of entities consolidated
Name of companies Type of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
KCP Vietnam Industries Ltd Full Consolidation Common Management and financial linkages
Fives Cail KCP Ltd. Equity Method 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
Fixed Deposits  FD  125.00  FA/Stable      31-07-19  FA/Positive  27-07-18  FA/Positive  31-07-17  FA/Stable  FA/Stable 
Non Convertible Debentures  LT  0.00
15-05-20 
CRISIL A-/Stable      31-07-19  CRISIL A-/Positive  27-07-18  CRISIL A-/Positive  31-07-17  CRISIL A-/Stable  CRISIL A-/Stable 
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  729.19  CRISIL A-/Stable/ CRISIL A2+      31-07-19  CRISIL A-/Positive/ CRISIL A2+  27-07-18  CRISIL A-/Positive/ CRISIL A2+  31-07-17  CRISIL A-/Stable/ CRISIL A2+  CRISIL A-/Stable/ CRISIL A2+ 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  150.00  CRISIL A2+      31-07-19  CRISIL A2+  27-07-18  CRISIL A2+  31-07-17  CRISIL A2+  CRISIL A2+ 
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 116 CRISIL A-/Stable Cash Credit 116 CRISIL A-/Positive
Fund-Based Facilities** 75 CRISIL A-/Stable Fund-Based Facilities** 75 CRISIL A-/Positive
Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 135 CRISIL A2+ Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 135 CRISIL A2+
Proposed Cash Credit Limit 45 CRISIL A-/Stable Proposed Cash Credit Limit 45 CRISIL A-/Positive
Proposed Letter of Credit & Bank Guarantee 15 CRISIL A2+ Proposed Letter of Credit & Bank Guarantee 15 CRISIL A2+
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 53.8 CRISIL A-/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 53.8 CRISIL A-/Positive
Short Term Loan 20 CRISIL A2+ Short Term Loan 20 CRISIL A2+
Term Loan 419.39 CRISIL A-/Stable Term Loan 419.39 CRISIL A-/Positive
Total 879.19 -- Total 879.19 --
**Interchangeable with non-fund based facility.
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 Cement Industry
Rating Criteria for Engineering Sector
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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