Press Release UST Global Technology Services (India) Private Limited March 30, 2018 Rating Amount Facilities Rating1 Rating Action (Rs. Cr.) 35 CARE BBB+; Stable Long-term Bank Facilities Reaffirmed (enhanced from 26.14) (Triple B Plus; Outlook: Stable) 35 Total Facilities (Rupees Thirty Five crore only) Details of facilities in Annexure-1 Detailed Rationale & Key Rating Drivers The ratings continue to derive strength from the global presence of the parent UST Global, its growing scale of operations and established relationship with reputed clients. The ratings also factor in comfortable financial risk profile of UST Group marked by healthy profit margin, comfortable capital structure and debt coverage indicators. The ratings are, however, constrained by client concentration risk, elongated working capital cycle with high receivables position and the debt- funded capital expenditure of the group towards the new office campus. The ratings are also constrained by the group’s business prospects being closely linked to global economic scenario and the highly fragmented & competitive nature of the global IT industry. Going forward, the ability of UST group to increase its scale of operations, diversify its client base and improve its working capital cycle while maintaining profitability margin and capital structure would be the key rating sensitivities. Detailed description of the key rating drivers Key Rating Strengths Global presence of the parent and professionally managed group: UST Global’s operations are spread across four continents with 17,000+ associates globally. In terms of employee head count, USA has around 4,000 employees, UK has around 300 employees, Singapore has around 200 employees, and UST Group (India) has more than 11,000 employees. UST Global, (refers to companies under UST Holdings Limited, Bermuda engaged in providing IT services, operating under common management), established in 1999, is part of the Comcraft group, a $6 Billion conglomerate consisting of over 200 companies with operations in more than 45 countries. The group has made investments in diversified fields including IT and Entertainment & Media. UST group companies (refers to four UST group companies, namely, US Technology International Private Limited (USTIPL), US Technology Resources Private Ltd (USTRPL), UST Global Technology Services (India) Private Ltd (USTSPL) and UST Global Information Technology Parks Private Ltd (USTGPL) ) are managed by experienced professionals with long experience in the IT industry. Reputed clientele albeit with moderate client concentration: The clients of UST Global are spread across healthcare, retail, banking and financial services (BFSI), technology, manufacturing, insurance, etc. The UST Global group has a moderate client concentration risk, with its top 10 clients contributing to around 50% of its overall revenues in FY17 (refers to the period April 01 to March 31). Growing scale of operations offering multiple IT services: UST has a diversified presence across various execution platforms and industry verticals enabling the group to provide end to end solutions to its customers. In terms of geographical distribution of clients, America contributed 60%, UK contributed 13%, Singapore contributed 14% and India contributed 8% during CY2017. The total income of UST Global improved from US$775 million during CY16 to US$803 million during CY17. On a combined basis, the Total Operating Income (TOI) of the UST Group in India increased by about 17% from Rs.1,325 crore in FY16 to Rs.1,552 crore in FY17. Financial risk profile marked by comfortable capital structure and debt coverage indicators: The profitability levels of UST Group continue to remain healthy with PBILDT margin of 25.65% during FY17 as compared with 26.94% during FY16. The capital structure of the group also remains comfortable with overall gearing of 0.55 times as on March 31, 2017. The 1Complete definition of the ratings assigned are available at www.careratings.com and other CARE publications 1 CARE Ratings Limited Press Release coverage indicators for the group are also comfortable with PBILDT interest coverage of 9.17 times as on March 31, 2017 and total Debt / GCA of 2.31 years for FY17. Key Rating Weaknesses Capital expenditure of the group towards a new office campus: UST Group has taken on lease about 33 acres of land in Techopark Trivandrum for the development of its office campus. Phase I was to be developed with a total area of 8 lsf and can seat about 7,200 employees. The group has availed sanctioned limit of Rs.130 crore to fund the interior development. The civil construction for the project was completed in September 2016 and twelve floors are presently occupied. Elongated working capital cycle with high receivables position: The UST Group has a working capital cycle of around 113 days and a collection period of about 155 days during FY17. The average maximum utilization for the cash credit facility during the past 12 months period ended February 2018 remained high at around 87%. Highly fragmented and competitive industry: The IT/ITES industry in India is highly fragmented and dominated by a large number of large and medium players. The industry faces intense competition due to low entry barriers. The prospects of IT services industry are closely linked to the global economy. The uncertain global economic situation has slowed down business for the IT/ITeS sector. Analytical approach: Combined CARE has taken a combined view on four UST group companies, namely, US Technology International Private Limited (USTIPL), US Technology Resources Private Ltd (USTRPL), UST Global Technology Services (India) Private Ltd (USTSPL) and UST Global Information Technology Parks Private Ltd (USTGPL) as all the four companies have synergies in operations, exhibit cash flow fungibility, are owned and managed by common promoters with cross-holding in few of the entities. Applicable Criteria Criteria on assigning Outlook to Credit Ratings CARE’s Policy on Default Recognition Criteria for Short Term Instruments Rating Methodology: Factoring Linkages in Ratings Rating Methodology – Service Sector Companies Financial ratios – Non-Financial Sector About the Company Kerala-based UST Group, is engaged in the business of providing software development and support services majorly to multinational customers of UST Global and also to domestic clients. USTIPL and USTSPL provide off-shore development services for the clients of UST Global, USTRPL provides services primarily to the other clients based in India. Apart from these three companies, USTGPL is engaged in development and leasing of Technology Park for the group companies based in India. Brief Financials (Rs. crore) FY16 (A) FY17 (A) Total operating income 94.14 106.05 PBILDT 18.22 18.15 PAT 12.17 12.10 Overall gearing (times) 0.60 0.45 Interest coverage (times) 17.69 12.87 A- Audited Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA: ICRA has suspended its rating vide press release dated January 19, 2016 on account of its inability to carry out a rating surveillance in the absence of the requisite information from the company. Any other information: Not applicable Rating History for last three years: Please refer Annexure-2 2 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. Analyst Contact: Name: Mr C Harihara Subramanian Tel: 044-2849 0811 Mobile: +91 97899 98514 Email: [email protected] **For detailed Rationale Report and subscription information, please contact us at www.careratings.com 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 India. 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 credit quality and are not recommendations to sanction, renew, disburse or recall the concerned bank facilities or to buy, sell or hold any security. 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. In case of partnership/proprietary concerns, the rating /outlook assigned by CARE is 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. Annexure-1: Details of Instruments/Facilities Name of the Date of Coupon Maturity Size of the Rating assigned along Instrument Issuance Rate Date Issue with Rating Outlook (Rs. crore) Fund-based - LT-Cash Credit - - - 35.00 CARE BBB+; Stable Annexure-2: Rating History of last three years Sr. Name of the Current Ratings Rating history No. Instrument/Bank Type Amount Rating Date(s) & Date(s) & Date(s) & Date(s) & Facilities Outstanding Rating(s) Rating(s) Rating(s) Rating(s) (Rs.