Press Release April 07, 2026 VITTHALRAO SHINDE SAHAKARI SAKHAR KARKHANA LIMITED Rating Reaffirmed

Product	Quantum (Rs. Cr)	Long Term Rating	Short Term Rating
Bank Loan Ratings	240.00	ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed	-
Total Outstanding	240.00	-	-
Total Withdrawn	0.00	-	-

Rating Rationale

Acuité has reaffirmed the long-term rating at ‘ACUITE BBB’ (read as ACUITE triple B) on the Rs.240.00 Cr. bank facilities of Vitthalrao Shinde Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (VSSSKL). The outlook is 'Stable'. Rationale for rating reaffirmation The rating reaffirmation factors in the established track record of the company along with the extensive experience of the management in the sugar industry. The rating further takes into account the integrated nature of operations of the company marked with better revenue mix. Further, it also factors in the moderate financial risk profile of the company. However, these strengths are partly offset by the decline in operating performance in FY25 due to reduced ethanol sales, lower crushing period and higher input costs. Further, decline is anticipated in FY26 due to lower stock availability for sales. Additionally, it also factors the moderate working capital operations of the company coupled with susceptibility to regulatory changes, inherent volatility in sugar prices, agro-climatic risks and the cyclical trends of the industry.

About the Company

Established in 2001, VSSSKL is a cooperative society owned by the sugarcane growers, based in Solapur, Maharashtra. The company holds a capacity of 20,000 TCD for production of sugar, 50.5 MW for power generation and 300 KLPD for distillery operations. The manufacturing unit of the company are located at Pimpalner and Karkamb. The current directors of the company are Shri. Babanrao Vithalrao Shinde (Chairman) and Mr. Santosh Nabhiraj Digraje (Managing Director).

Unsupported Rating

­Not Applicable

Analytical Approach

Acuité has considered the standalone business and financial risk profile of VSSSKL to arrive at the rating.

Key Rating Drivers

Strengths

Long operational track record and established presence in sugar and distillery businesses The company has an extensive experience of more than two decades in the sugar industry and has wide acceptance among local farmers, facilitating adequate and timely cane procurement, ensuring an adequate crushing period which has helped the company mark healthy scale of operations over the years. Acuite believes that VSSSKL will continue to benefit from its established track record of opera tions and experience of its management team. Integrated nature of operations providing better revenue mix VSSSKL has integrated mix of production capacities, comprising an operational cane crushing capacity of 20,000 TCD, co-generation power plant with capacity of 50.5 MW and distillery with capacity of 300 KLPD. Also, the company’s cogeneration plant and distillery has an adequate capacity to utilise all the bagasse’s and molasses through crushing operations thereby resulting in fully integrated operations. The company’s sugar revenue for FY25 stood at Rs.845.96 crore, up from Rs.580.32 crore in FY24, driven by the availability of inventory at the end of FY24. In contrast, ethanol sales declined to Rs.311.83 crore in FY25 from Rs.367.55 crore in FY24. Going ahead, ethanol sales are expected to rise over the medium term, supported by the Government of India’s removal of the ban on ethanol production from syrup and B-heavy molasses, along with the availability of excess installed capacity. Moderate financial risk profile The financial risk profile of the company remained moderate, marked by a healthy net worth, moderate gearing, and moderate debt protection metrics. The net worth of the company stood healthy at Rs.378.39 crore as on March 31, 2025 as against Rs.330.39 crore as on March 31, 2024. The increase in net worth is primarily due to the accretion of profits to the reserves. The company's gearing ratio stands low to 0.95 times as of March 31, 2025, compared to 1.76 times on March 31, 2024. This decrease was primarily due to lower working capital borrowings, driven by lower inventory as on year end. The TOL/TNW stood at 2.08 times as on March 31, 2025 as against 3.58 times as on March 31, 2024. Acuite believes that the financial risk profile of the company shall continue to remain moderate with growing operations and steady cash accruals.

Weaknesses

Decline in operating performance The company recorded revenue of Rs. 1,408.94 crore in FY25 compared to Rs. 1,243.18 crore in FY24. However, operating margins declined to 4.85% from 7.72% in FY24, primarily due to reduced ethanol sales and the inherent cyclicality of the sugar season, particularly the duration of crushing operations and higher inputs costs due to sugar valuation. Moreover, in the current year (FY26), sales have been lowered at Rs. 851.65 crore for the 11 months ended owing to lower availability of inventory. However, going forward, margins are expected to improve in FY27, supported by better crushing in ESY26-27 on account of improved crop availability during the season.    Moderate working capital operations The company's working capital operations though improved remain moderate, as indicated by Gross Current Asset (GCA) days of 188 days in FY2025 (316 days in FY2024). The GCA days were primarily improved by a decrease in inventory days owing to lower crushing period, resulting to 95 days in FY2025, down from 230 days in FY2024. Further, the debtor’s days of the company stood at 14 days in FY25 as compared to 17 days in FY24. The company receives advance payment from its dealers for the sale of sugar, whereas for ethanol and power sale it receives payment in ~20-25 days. The creditors days for the company stood at 8 days in FY25 as compared to 46 days in FY24. Acuite believes that working capital operations of the company may continue to remain moderate considering the nature of business. Susceptibility to regulatory changes and inherent volatility in sugar prices The sugar industry is susceptible to movements in sugarcane and sugar prices which results in volatile profitability. While the government policy of Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane has brought some amount of stability and predictability in input price, open market sugar price remains dependent on the demand-supply scenario. Besides this, the government also regulates domestic demand-supply through restrictions on imports and exports, sugar release orders and buffer stock limits. Government interventions will remain a driver for the profitability of sugar mills and continue as a key rating sensitivity factor. Agro climatic risks and cyclical trends in the industry Profitability of sugar mills will remain vulnerable to the agro-climatic risks related to cane production. Being an agricultural product, the sugarcane crop is dependent upon weather conditions and is vulnerable to pests and diseases that may not only impact the yield per hectare but also the recovery rate. These factors can have a significant impact on the company’s revenue and profitability.

ESG Factors Relevant for Rating

­Sugar entities like VSSSKL faces environmental risks due to climate variability affecting sugarcane yield, especially in regions with high rainfall dependence. However, areas like Maharashtra offer relatively favorable conditions with higher recovery rates and longer crushing seasons, partially mitigating these risks. Socially, the global shift toward reduced sugar consumption presents a gradual challenge, but increasing sucrose diversion to ethanol is expected to support industry stability in the medium term.

Rating Sensitivities

Potential triggers (individual or collective) for an upward rating action:

Successful ramp-up of the ethanol segment, leading to growth in the scale of operations, increase in profitability margins above 8% Improvement in the liquidity and credit metrics

Potential triggers (individual or collective) for a downward rating action:

Substantial deterioration in the operating performance with margins falling below 4% Increase in debt levels thereby impacting the financial risk profile Significant elongation in working capital intensity

Liquidity Position

Adequate

The liquidity position of VSSSKL remains adequate, with net cash accruals (NCA) of Rs. 49.27 crore in FY25 against debt repayment obligations of Rs. 51.79 crore during the same year. The repayment was managed through the excess cash balance available with the company. Further, it is expected that company will generate NCA in range of Rs.50-70 crore against the repayment obligations of around Rs.19-47 crore over the medium term. The current ratio of the company stood low at 1.06 times in FY25. The average bank limit utilisation for last 12 months ending December 2025 stood at 19 percent on closing basis. Further, the company had cash and bank balance of Rs.18.40 crore as on March 31, 2025. Acuite believes that the liquidity position of the company will continue to remain adequate on account of steady cash accruals.

Outlook - Stable

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Other Factors affecting Rating

­None

Key Financials

Particulars	Unit	FY 25 (Actual)	FY 24 (Actual)
Operating Income	Rs. Cr.	1408.94	1243.18
PAT	Rs. Cr.	11.06	19.96
PAT Margin	(%)	0.78	1.61
Total Debt/Tangible Net Worth	Times	0.95	1.76
PBDIT/Interest	Times	2.00	2.46

Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA (if applicable)

Not Applicable

Any other information

­None

Applicable Criteria

• Default Recognition :- https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-52.htm • Manufacturing Entities: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-59.htm • Application Of Financial Ratios And Adjustments: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-53.htm

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument

­In order to inform the investors about complexity of instruments, Acuité has categorized such instruments in three levels: Simple, Complex and Highly Complex. Acuite’s categorisation of the instruments across the three categories is based on factors like variability of the returns to the investors, uncertainty in cash flow patterns, number of counterparties and general understanding of the instrument by the market. It has to be understood that complexity is different from credit risk and even an instrument categorized as 'Simple' can carry high levels of risk. For more details, please refer Rating Criteria “Complexity Level Of Financial Instruments” on www.acuite.in.

Rating History

Date Name of Instruments/Facilities Term Amount (Rs. Cr) Rating/Outlook 08 Jan 2025 Cash Credit Long Term 60.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned) Cash Credit Long Term 60.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned) Cash Credit Long Term 16.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned) Working Capital Demand Loan (WCDL) Long Term 24.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned) Proposed Cash Credit Long Term 30.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned) Proposed Working Capital Demand Loan Long Term 50.00 ACUITE BBB | Stable (Assigned)

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Annexure - Details of instruments rated

Lender’s Name ISIN Facilities Date Of Issuance Coupon Rate Maturity Date Quantum (Rs. Cr.) Complexity Level Rating State Bank of India Not avl. / Not appl. Cash Credit Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 60.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed Bank Of Baroda Not avl. / Not appl. Cash Credit Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 30.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed BANK OF INDIA (BOI) Not avl. / Not appl. Cash Credit Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 28.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed Not Applicable Not avl. / Not appl. Proposed Cash Credit Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 30.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed Not Applicable Not avl. / Not appl. Proposed Working Capital Demand Loan Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 50.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed BANK OF INDIA (BOI) Not avl. / Not appl. Working Capital Demand Loan (WCDL) Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 42.00 Simple ACUITE BBB | Stable | Reaffirmed

Contacts

Mohit Jain Chief Analytical Officer - Rating Operations Parth Patel Senior Analyst - Rating Operations	Contact details exclusively for investors and lenders Mob: +91 8591310146 Email ID: analyticalsupport@acuite.in

About Acuité Ratings & Research

Acuité is a full-service Credit Rating Agency registered with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The company received RBI Accreditation as an External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) for Bank Loan Ratings under BASEL-II norms in the year 2012. Acuité has assigned ratings to various securities, debt instruments and bank facilities of entities spread across the country and across a wide cross section of industries. It has its Registered and Head Office in Kanjurmarg, Mumbai. Disclaimer: An Acuité rating does not constitute an audit of the rated entity and should not be treated as a recommendation or opinion that is intended to substitute for a financial adviser's or investor's independent assessment of whether to buy, sell or hold any security. Ratings assigned by Acuité are based on the data and information provided by the issuer and obtained from other reliable sources. Although reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the data and information is true, Acuité, in particular, makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied with respect to the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of the information relied upon. Acuité is not responsible for any errors or omissions and especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss of any kind, arising from the use of its ratings. Ratings assigned by Acuité are subject to a process of surveillance which may lead to a revision in ratings as and when the circumstances so warrant. Please visit our website (www.acuite.in) for the latest information on any instrument rated by Acuité. Please visit https://www.acuite.in/faqs.htm to refer FAQs on Credit Rating. Note: None of the Directors on the Board of Acuité Ratings & Research Limited are members of any rating committee and therefore do not participate in discussions regarding the rating of any entity.