Press Release

South City Projects () Limited April 05, 2021 Ratings Amount Facilities Ratings1 Rating Action (Rs. crore) CARE BBB+; Stable 952.0 Long Term Bank Facilities (Triple B Plus; Outlook: Reaffirmed (reduced from 1015.77) Stable) 7.53 CARE A3+ Short Term Bank Facilities Reaffirmed (reduced from 40.36) (A Three Plus) 959.53 Total Bank Facilities (Rupees Nine Hundred Fifty-Nine crore and Fifty-Three lakh only) Details of instruments/facilities in Annexure-1; for classification of instruments/facilities please refer to Annexure-3

Detailed Rationale & Key Rating Drivers The ratings assigned to the bank facilities of Projects (Kolkata) Limited (SCPL) continues to draw strength from the experience of the promoters with long track record in the real estate industry, successful completion of few real estate projects in the past, majority of debt in the books backed by contracted cash flows, adequate cash flow from projects earning lease rental and comfort in the form of land bank and liquid investments. The ratings are, however, constrained by litigation in the Colombo (Altair) project which delayed the completion of the project (expected to be completed by June 2021 revised from June, 2020), slow sales velocity/momentum, increased risk of cancellation of already sold units, the occupancy risk for the remaining part of the mall, risk of non-renewal of lease after expiry of lock-in-period, increased debt levels led to high total outside liabilities as a proportion to net-worth and volatility in the residential and commercial real estate sectors. Rating Sensitivities Positive Factors - Factors that could lead to positive rating action/upgrade  Resolution of ongoing litigation in Columbo project and timely execution and improved sale velocity of ongoing projects viz. Altair, South City Business Park and South City Retreat  Ability to receive lease rentals at competitive rates on time and maintain optimum level of occupancy rate  Improving the capital structure on sustained basis.

Negative Factors - Factors that could lead to negative rating action/downgrade  Delay in completion of Colombo project beyond June, 2021 and sales & realization from Colombo project beyond September, 2022  Delay in receipt of Completion certificate of food court beyond June, 2021  Commencement of new project in Dubai before completion of Colombo project  Any further increase in debt beyond the existing level.  Any unexpected financial liability arising pertaining to ongoing litigation in Columbo (Altair) project.  Fall in lease rentals below competitive rates and occupancy falling below optimum level of occupancy rate on a sustained basis

Detailed Description of key rating drivers Key Rating Strengths Experienced promoters with long track record and successful completion of few projects All the six promoter groups of SCPL have rich experience in the real estate industry with a long and satisfactory track record. Beside real estate, the promoters have interests in FMCG, retail, newsprint manufacturing, pharmacy chain, edible oil, cement, tyre tubes, paper, tea etc. The projects executed by the promoter groups include townships, residential towers, mall, IT parks, commercial projects, stadiums, resorts, hospitals and schools. Since inception, SCPL has successfully developed total area of 72.9 acre.

Adequate cash flow from projects on lease supporting debt repayment SCPL is generating adequate cash flow from its leased-out properties to meet its committed debt obligation on time. Major part of the mall became operational in January 2018 and subsequently the mall was fully operational from January 2019. Out of the 7.54 lsf of area (after extension), SCPL has already tied up for 7.28 lsf and is presently receiving rent of Rs.9.75 crore per month from the leased area which is adequate for present debt servicing. The net cash flow is expected to improve in FY22 due to increase in lease rental income on account of escalation clause coupled with lease rental from the untied portion of the leasable area. The company raised term debt of Rs.850 crore

1Complete definition of the ratings assigned are available at www.careratings.com and in other CARE publications 1 CARE Ratings Limited

Press Release to replace higher cost borrowing for the mall and for use in its ongoing projects, including the project in Columbo. The entire loan is backed by lease rental discounting of the mall. Timely booking of the untied area in the mall, generating revenue as envisaged and receipt of completion certificate for food court are critical from credit perspective.

Further, the cash flow from the IT park given on lease is also expected to be sufficient to meet repayment of the debt availed against such cash flow.

Comfort in the form of land bank and liquid investments SCPL had a land bank of about 98.92 acre (market value about Rs.274 crore as per company estimates) and ICDs extended to known corporates which can support the liquidity of the company. Further, the company had liquid investments of Rs.135.4 crore as on March 31, 2020 majorly pledged against its borrowings.

Key Rating Weaknesses Risk of non-renewal of lease after expiry of lock-in-period The majority of lease agreements of the commercial properties ( and IT Park) have a lock-in-period of three years, resulting in risk of non-renewal of lease after expiry of lock-in-period. However, the mall is fully operational from January 2019 and the risk is mitigated to a large extent by the strategic location of the mall and its popularity which is evidenced by the high footfalls in the past.

Slowdown in sales momentum in Colombo, further delay in project completion and increased risk of cancellation of already sold units on account of litigation between the partners. There has been a slowdown in sales momentum in the major ongoing project in Sri Lanka. SCPL has already incurred ~98% of the cost for the project (Altair) in Sri Lanka as on December 31, 2020. The company has already received bookings for 70.33% of the saleable area and the customer advances of Rs.356 crore to be received for the booked flats is sufficient to meet the balance construction cost. However, due to slowdown in sales, the funding requirement for the project has increased. Consequently, the company has highly leveraged capital structure marked by high total outside liabilities as a proportion of net-worth to 6.44x as on March 31, 2020 (Prov.) (7.01x as on March 31, 2019). Further, the litigation between the partners along with outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has further delayed the completion of the project leading to increase in risk for cancellation of already sold units. The said litigation, however, is nearing to settlement/closure with documentation/ process formalities in the pipeline. Receipt of balance amount from sold inventory, sales of the remaining unsold area and timely resolution of the said litigation are the key rating sensitivities.

Risk associated with timely completion of ongoing projects The total customer advances receivable as a percentage of remaining construction cost and debt availed for all the projects is sufficient to complete the project. However, the risk associated with project implementation remains. Timely receipt of customer advances from existing and future bookings is critical for timely completion of the projects and comfortable debt servicing.

Volatility in the residential and commercial real estate scenario Kolkata real estate industry (for residential and retail) is less sensitive to any economic slowdown owing to residential demand mainly driven by end users. On the other side, the commercial real estate demand for office purpose has not seen much of prosperity in terms of growth during recent times with excess of supply over demand. SCPL is also exposed to increase in competition from other premium projects in its overseas project in Columbo.

Liquidity: Adequate The group has two on-going projects for total project cost of Rs.2093 crore. Out of which Rs.2024 crore has already been expended till December 31, 2020. Further, Rs.390 crore of committed customers’ advance is outstanding as on December 31, 2020 which is adequate to cover the cost to be incurred and debt outstanding related to these projects. This apart, the company has unsold inventory of around Rs.615 crore pertaining to Altair Project coupled with cash and cash equivalents of Rs.46.23 which provides comfort to the liquidity position of the company. Further, in FY22 SCPL’s debt obligation stood at Rs. 78.0 crore which will be met through lease rentals from the mall & IT park and sale/leasing of unsold area/unoccupied areas in completed projects. Also, the company maintains DSRA of Rs.16.02 crore (equivalent to one quarter interest) crore as on December 31, 2020 which provides support to the liquidity of the company. The company had availed the moratorium till August 31, 2020 on its debt repayment obligations pursuant to COVID-19 regulatory relief package announced by the RBI.

Analytical Approach: Consolidated. SCPL executes projects through various SPVs and also through joint ventures. The following entities have been considered for consolidation:

2 CARE Ratings Limited

Press Release

Subsidiaries Holding of SCPL South City Projects FZE 100% South City Matrix Infrastructure Limited 99.65% Bengal Anmol South City Infrastructure Limited 69.65% South City Property Management Pvt. Ltd 100% South City Developers Pvt. Ltd. 100% AA Infraproperties Pvt. Ltd. 87.5% South City Retreat Property Management Pvt. Limited 100% Indocean Developers Private Limited* 87.5% AA Infra (Middle East) Limited* 87.5% AA Infra properties (Jafza)Ltd* 87.5% South City International School 51.5% Joint Ventures Kolkata Metropolitan South City Development Limited 49.97% *Step-down subsidiaries

Applicable Criteria: Criteria on assigning ‘Outlook’ and ‘credit watch’ to Credit Ratings CARE’s Policy on Default Recognition Financial ratios – Non-Financial Sector Liquidity analysis of non-financial sector Criteria for short term instruments Rating Methodology- Debt backed by lease rentals Rating Methodology- Real Estate Sector Rating Methodology: Consolidation and Factoring Linkages in Ratings

About the Company SCPL, incorporated in 1995, is a joint venture of six Kolkata-based real estate developers, namely, the group, Rameswara group, Sureka group, Shrachi group, J.B. group and Merlin group. The company undertakes commercial and residential real estate development mainly in Kolkata and is also developing a residential property in Columbo, Srilanka. Real estate developments are made on asset-heavy model, where residential projects are developed on outright sale model and commercial projects are developed mostly on leasehold basis. SCPL and its subsidiaries currently have two projects in hand with one in Kolkata and one in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The projects under implementation stage entail a cost of around Rs.1,963 crore. Brief Financials (Rs. crore) FY19 (Audited) FY20 (Provisional) Total operating income 217.38 265.49 PBILDT 124.70 131.67 PAT 53.97 42.56 Overall gearing (times) 3.97 3.57 Interest coverage (times) 3.04 1.59

Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA: CRISIL assigned ratings to SCPL in ‘non-cooperative’ category vide press release dated December 15, 2020 due to continued non-cooperation by the company.

Any other information: Not Applicable

Rating History (Last three years): Please refer Annexure 2

Complexity level of various instruments rated for this company: Annexure-3

3 CARE Ratings Limited

Press Release

Annexure-1: Details of Instruments/Facilities

Size of the Rating assigned Name of the Date of Coupon Maturity Issue along with Rating Instrument Issuance Rate Date (Rs. crore) Outlook CARE BBB+; Term Loan-Long Term - - Sep-2030 850.00 Stable Non-fund-based - LT- CARE BBB+; - - - 100.00 Letter of credit Stable Non-fund-based - ST- CARE A3+ - - - 7.53 Bank Guarantees Fund-based - LT-Bank CARE BBB+; - - - 2.00 Overdraft Stable

Annexure-2: Rating History of last three years Current Ratings Rating history Name of the Type Rating Date(s) & Date(s) & Date(s) & Date(s) & Sr. Amount Instrument/Bank Rating(s) Rating(s) Rating(s) Rating(s) No. Outstanding Facilities assigned in assigned in assigned in assigned in (Rs. crore) 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 1)CARE A-; 1)CARE A-; 1)CARE Stable Stable CARE BBB+; (18-Mar- (20-Mar- BBB+; Stable 1. Term Loan-Long Term LT 850.00 - 19) 18) Stable (30-Mar- 2)CARE A-; 2)CARE A-; 20) Stable Stable

(05-Jul-18) (28-Apr-17) 1)CARE A-; 1)CARE A-; 1)CARE Stable Stable CARE BBB+; (20-Mar- (18-Mar- Non-fund-based - LT- BBB+; Stable 18) 2. LT 100.00 - 19) Letter of credit Stable (30-Mar- 2)CARE A-; 2)CARE A-; 20) Stable Stable (28-Apr-17) (05-Jul-18)

1)CARE A2 1)CARE A3+ 1)CARE A2 CARE (18-Mar- Non-fund-based - ST- (30-Mar- (20-Mar- 3. ST 7.53 A3+ - 19) Bank Guarantees 20) 18) 2)CARE A2

(05-Jul-18) 1)CARE A-; 1)CARE Stable 1)CARE A-; CARE BBB+; (18-Mar- Stable Fund-based - LT-Bank BBB+; Stable 4. LT 2.00 - 19) (20-Mar- Overdraft Stable (30-Mar- 2)CARE A-; 18) 20) Stable

(05-Jul-18)

Annexure-3: Complexity Sr. Name of the Instrument Complexity Level No. 1. Fund-based - LT-Bank Overdraft Simple 2. Non-fund-based - LT-Letter of credit Simple 3. Non-fund-based - ST-Bank Guarantees Simple 4. Term Loan-Long Term Simple

4 CARE Ratings Limited

Press Release

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument: CARE has classified instruments rated by it on the basis of complexity.

This classification is available at www.careratings.com. Investors/market intermediaries/regulators or others are welcome to write to [email protected] for any clarifications.

Contact us

Media Contact Name: Mr. Mradul Mishra Contact no.- +91-22-6837-4424 Email ID – [email protected]

Analyst Contact Name: Mr. Abhishek Khemka Contact No. - 033-4018 1610 Email id – [email protected]

Business Development Contact Name: Mr. Lalit Sikaria Contact No. - 033-4018 1607 Email id – [email protected]

About CARE Ratings: CARE Ratings commenced operations in April 1993 and over two decades, it has established itself as one of the leading credit rating agencies in . CARE is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and also recognized as an External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). CARE Ratings is proud of its rightful place in the Indian capital market built around investor confidence. CARE Ratings provides the entire spectrum of credit rating that helps the corporates to raise capital for their various requirements and assists the investors to form an informed investment decision based on the credit risk and their own risk-return expectations. Our rating and grading service offerings leverage our domain and analytical expertise backed by the methodologies congruent with the international best practices. Disclaimer CARE’s ratings are opinions on the likelihood of timely payment of the obligations under the rated instrument and are not recommendations to sanction, renew, disburse or recall the concerned bank facilities or to buy, sell or hold any security. CARE’s ratings do not convey suitability or price for the investor. CARE’s ratings do not constitute an audit on the rated entity. CARE has based its ratings/outlooks on information obtained from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. CARE does not, however, guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. Most entities whose bank facilities/instruments are rated by CARE have paid a credit rating fee, based on the amount and type of bank facilities/instruments. CARE or its subsidiaries/associates may also have other commercial transactions with the entity. In case of partnership/proprietary concerns, the rating /outlook assigned by CARE is, inter-alia, based on the capital deployed by the partners/proprietor and the financial strength of the firm at present. The rating/outlook may undergo change in case of withdrawal of capital or the unsecured loans brought in by the partners/proprietor in addition to the financial performance and other relevant factors. CARE is not responsible for any errors and states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to the users of CARE’s rating. Our ratings do not factor in any rating related trigger clauses as per the terms of the facility/instrument, which may involve acceleration of payments in case of rating downgrades. However, if any such clauses are introduced and if triggered, the ratings may see volatility and sharp downgrades.

**For detailed Rationale Report and subscription information, please contact us at www.careratings.com

5 CARE Ratings Limited