Pune Solapur Expressways Private Limited: Rating Reaffirmed Summary
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November 29, 2019 Revised Pune Solapur Expressways Private Limited: Rating reaffirmed Summary of rating action Instrument* Previous Rated Current Rated Rating Action Amount (Rs. crore) Amount (Rs. crore) Non-Convertible Debenture Programme 775.50 775.50 [ICRA]A(Stable); Reaffirmed Term Loans 200.00 200.00 [ICRA]A(Stable); Reaffirmed Total 975.50 975.50 *Instrument details are provided in Annexure-1 Rationale The rating reaffirmation continues to factor in the operational status of Pune Solapur Expressways Private Limited’s (PSEPL) road project with more than five years of toll collection track record. The traffic grew at a CAGR of 4.46% during FY2014 to FY2019, supported by growth in the passenger vehicle segment. While the passenger traffic continued to witness healthy growth in H1 FY2020, the MAV segment witnessed a de-growth on account of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MORTH) directive to increase the load carrying capacity of heavy vehicles by 20%-25% in July 2018, along with muted performance of real estate sector in Pune impacting the movement of sand-carrying vehicles; resulting in overall muted traffic growth of 2% in H1 FY2020. The toll rate has increased by 4% in FY2020, thus allaying the concern of revenue growth to some extent. The rating notes the strong profile of the sponsors –TRIL Roads Private Limited (a 100% subsidiary of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited – TRIL, rated[ICRA]AA (Stable)/[ICRA]A1+) and Atlantia SPA. Both the sponsors are prominent players in the infrastructure segment. While TRIL is the Tata Group’s arm in the real estate and infrastructure segment, Atlantia SPA is a global motorway management company. Additionally, presence of three-tier liquidity support in the form of debt service reserve account (equivalent to three months of interest and principle payment), contingency reserve and critical reserve, along with other structural features viz. mandatory prepayment, major maintenance reserve, escrow mechanism, cash flow waterfall, etc, and legal provisions provide credit support to the rated instrument. The rating also factors in the healthy cash cover expected over the tenure of the debt. Notwithstanding the track record of toll collections, the project remains exposed to risks inherent in BOT (toll) road projects including risks arising from political acceptability of rate hikes linked to WPI over the concession period and development/improvement of alternate routes and likelihood of toll leakages, though the existing alternate routes are either longer or are in poor condition and therefore poses low risk of traffic diversion. Further, the rating is sensitive to movement in interest rate owing to variable interest rate with an option of spread reset. However, the current interest rate is fixed for the next two years (FY2020 and FY2021). The company will be undertaking its first major maintenance activity. The total outlay is estimated to be ~Rs. 87 crore over a fifteen month period – i.e. Q4 FY2020 and FY2021, which will be funded through existing MMR and operational cash flows. Rating remains sensitive on the ability of the company to manage routine and periodic maintenance expenses within the budgeted levels, however creation of contingency and critical reserves provide comfort in case of any unforeseen increase in expense. Going forward, trend in traffic growth rates and movement in WPI remains key rating sensitives. ICRA takes note of the pending construction of 0.2 km of service road and median strip along the 4 km stretch, for which RoW is yet to be awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI, rated [ICRA]AAA (Stable)/[ICRA]A1+). As per the company’s estimates, the cost to complete the pending works is expected to be ~Rs.5.6 crore. 1 Key rating drivers and their description Credit strengths Operational nature of project eliminates construction risks – PSEPL is an operational road project with more than five years of toll collection track record. The traffic grew at a CAGR of 4.46% during FY2014 to FY2019, supported by growth in passenger vehicle segment. While the passenger traffic continued to witness healthy growth in H1 FY2020, the MAV segment witnessed a de-growth on account of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MORTH) directive to increase the load carrying capacity of heavy vehicles by 20%-25% in July 2018, along with muted performance of real estate sector in Pune impacting the movement of sand-carrying vehicles; resulting in overall muted traffic growth of 2% in H1 FY2020. Presence of structural features provides credit support – The presence of three-tier liquidity support in the form of debt service reserve account (equivalent to three months of interest and principle payment), contingency reserve and critical reserve, along with other structural features viz. mandatory prepayment, major maintenance reserve, escrow mechanism, cash flow waterfall, etc, and legal provisions provide credit support to the rated instrument. Healthy cash cover – The company is estimated to have healthy projected cash cover over the tenure of the debt. Strong profile of the sponsors – The rating takes into account the strong profile of the sponsors –TRIL and Atlantia SPA. Both the sponsors are prominent players in the infrastructure segment. While TRIL is the Tata Group’s arm in the real estate and infrastructure segment, Atlantia SPA is a global motorway management company. Credit challenges Ensuring O&M expense and major maintenance expense within budgeted levels The company will be undertaking its first major maintenance activity. The total outlay is estimated to be ~Rs. 87 crore over a fifteen month period – i.e. Q4 FY2020 and FY2021, which will be funded through existing MMR and operational cash flows. Rating remains sensitive on the ability of the company to manage routine and periodic maintenance expenses within the budgeted levels, however creation of contingency and critical reserves provide comfort in case of any unforeseen increase in expense. Project remains exposed to interest rate risk – PSEPL’s cash flows are exposed to interest rate risk owing to variable interest rate with an option of spread reset; however, the current interest rate is fixed for the next two years (FY2020 and FY2021). Project cash flows sensitive to traffic growth rates and acceptability of toll rate hike – PSEPL’s cash flows are exposed to volatility in toll collections due to future traffic growth rate. The project remains exposed to risks inherent in BOT (toll) road projects including risks arising from political acceptability of rate hikes linked to WPI over the concession period, development/improvement of alternate routes and likelihood of toll leakages. However, the existing alternate routes are either longer or are in poor condition and therefore pose low risk of traffic diversion. Liquidity position: Adequate The company has an adequate liquidity position with unencumbered cash balances of ~Rs.43 crore as on September 30, 2019. Its principal debt repayment obligation in FY2020 is Rs.8.9 crore, which can be comfortably met through cash flow from operations. PSEPL will be undertaking the first major maintenance activity and the total outlay is estimated to be ~Rs. 87 crore over a fifteen month period – i.e. Q4 FY2020 and FY2021, which will be funded through MMR and operational cash flows. Further, the company has earmarked Rs. 100 crore (overdraft facility) towards various reserves, 2 i.e., contingency, critical and MM reserves. It has maintained DSRA of Rs. 25.1 crore as on March 31, 2019 in the form of term deposit, which is equivalent to three months of interest and principle payment. Rating sensitivities Positive triggers – The rating might be upgraded if the company witnesses 5% traffic growth and toll collection growth of more than 9%, which is sustained over the medium-to-long term with no increase in interest rate, resulting in further strengthening of its financial risk profile. Negative triggers – The rating might be downgraded if traffic growth is lower than 2% and toll collection growth is less than 5% on a sustained basis or the company incurs higher-than-anticipated routine O&M and scheduled major maintenance expense due in Q4 FY2020/21, thereby weakening the liquidity profile of PSEPL. Analytical approach Analytical Approach Comments Corporate Credit Ratings: A Note on Methodology Applicable Rating Methodologies Rating Methodology for BOT (Toll) Roads Parent/Group Support Parent Company: Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) Consolidation / Standalone Standalone About the company Incorporated on March 20, 2009, PSEPL is an SPV promoted by TRIL Roads Private Limited (TRPL; 50% stake in PSEPL) and Atlantia SPA (50%) for four-laning of the two-lane Pune-Solapur section of NH-65 (earlier NH-9) from km 40.00 to km 144.40 and construction of Indapur-bypass in Maharashtra (total length: 110 km) on design, build, operate, finance and transfer (DBFOT) toll basis with a concession period of 21 years from the appointment date of November 16, 2009 to November 15, 2030, including a construction period of 910 days. The actual project cost was Rs.1371 crore. Around 84 km (including 7.2 km bypass) of stretch was completed by January 28, 2013 and provisional completion certificate was issued. Partial tolling commenced from February 4, 2013. Subsequently, the remaining 26 km stretch was completed by January 28, 2015 and the final completion certification was issued. 3 Key financial indicators (Audited) FY2018 FY2019 Operating Income (Rs. crore) 138.8 152.6 PAT (Rs. crore) -20.1 -12.0 OPBDIT/ OI (%) 74.7% 73.9% RoCE (%) 7.1% 8.1% Total Debt/ TNW (times) 15.8 19.8 Total Debt/ OPBDIT (times) 8.5 7.6 Interest coverage (times) 1.2 1.3 DSCR 1.1 1.2 Source: PSEPL, ICRA research Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA: Not applicable Any other information: None Rating history for last three years Chronology of Rating History for the Past 3 Current Rating (FY2020) Years Amount Date & Amount Date & Rating Date & Rating Instrument Outstanding Date &Rating Rating in Rated in FY2018 in FY2017 Type (Rs.