Product Quantum (Rs. Cr) Long Term Rating Short Term Rating
Bank Loan Ratings 61.98 ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed -
Bank Loan Ratings 42.75 - ACUITE A3 | Reaffirmed
Total Outstanding Quantum (Rs. Cr) 104.73 - -
 
Rating Rationale
Acuité has reaffirmed its long-term rating of ‘ACUITE BBB-’ (read as ACUITE Triple B minus) and short- term rating of A3 (read as ACUITE A three) on the Rs.104.73 Cr bank facilities of Sylvan Plyboard (India)Ltd (SPIL). The outlook is ‘Stable’.

Rating Rationale

The rating draws strength from the experienced management, flexibility in production to manufacture diverse products, strategically located manufacturing facility, moderate networth, comfortable gearing and healthy debt protection metrics of SPIL. These strengths are partially offset by its working capital intensive nature of operations of the company, susceptibility of its operating margin to raw material price fluctuations, and exposure to intense competition in the wood-panel industry

About the Company
­Sylvan Plyboard (India)Limited was incorporated in August 2002 as Singh Brothers Exim Pvt Ltd to take over the operations of Singh Brothers & Co, a proprietorship firm established by late Mr Shree Krishna Singh in 1951. In March 2013, the company was given its current name. The company's promoters are Mr. Jai Prakash Singh and his son, Mr. Anand Kumar Singh. The manufacturing facility has been strategically located in proximity to Kolkata Port leading to easier imports. SPIL is engaged in manufacturing of various wood products such as face veneer, sawn timber, plywood, block board, flush door and flexi ply across grades and thickness. The company markets its products under the brand name of “Sylvan”, through its network of branch offices, authorized dealers, and sub dealers. The company had more than 360 authorized dealers across 15 states.
 
Analytical Approach
­Acuité has considered the standalone business and financial risk profiles of SPIL to arrive at this rating.
 

Key Rating Drivers

Strengths
Long standing experience of the promoters in the industry

The key promoters Mr. Jai Prakash and Mr. Anand Kumar Singh have more than 4 decades of experience in the business. The long standing experience of the promoters and long track record of operations has helped them to establish strong relationships with suppliers and customers; has aided in the establishment of a widespread dealer network for processed timber and other timber products in West Bengal, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. Acuité derives comfort from the long experience of the management and believes this will benefit the company going forward, resulting in steady growth in the scale of operations.

Established brand name in the eastern market, established distribution network and strategic location of manufacturing units strengthen SPIL’s operating profile –

SPIL’s moderate business risk profile is driven by its established position in the plywood industry, a large product portfolio with brands positioned across the price spectrum, distribution network of 360 dealers and brand strengths. Furthermore, the manufacturing facility set up in year 2009 has been strategically located in proximity to Kolkata Port leading to easier imports, and also leads to lower freight cost.
The company’s capacity utilisation has increased from 67% in FY2021 to 82% in FY2022 on the back of healthy real estate absorption, strong demand from smaller cities and market share gains from unorganised players. The company’s revenue stood at Rs 172.04 crore as on FY2022 vis-à-vis Rs 109.08 crore in FY202. In the 9 months of FY2023, the revenue stood at Rs. 145.28 crore(provisional) backed by robust demand from end-users industries.
 Moderate financial risk profile

The financial risk profile of the company is marked by moderate networth, comfortable gearing level and healthy debt protection metrics. The tangible networth stood at Rs 82.83 crore as on 31st March, 2022 as compared to Rs 79.78 crore in the previous year. The gearing (debt-equity) stood comfortable at 0.55 times in FY 2022 as compared to  0.59 times in the previous year. The coverage indicators stood healthy marked by Interest coverage ratio (ICR) which stood at 2.08 times for FY 2022 as compared to 1.35 times in FY 2021. Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) stood at 1.16 times in FY 2022 as compared to 1.27 times in FY 2021. Net cash accruals to total debt (NCA/TD) stood at 0.11 times in FY 2022. The Debt-EBITDA stood at 3.94 times in FY 2022. Acuité believes that going forward the financial risk profile of the company will improve backed by steady accruals and no major debt funded capex plans.

 
Weaknesses
Working capital intensive nature of operations

The working capital intensive nature of operations is marked by improving Gross Current Assets (GCA) of 320 days as on March 31, 2022 as against 464 days as on March 31, 2021. The high GCA days are on account of inventory period of the company which stood at 241 days as on March 31, 2022 as compared to 384 days as on 31st March 2021. SPIL generally maintains high inventory to keep adequate stock of raw materials such as veneer and chemicals which have a lead time ranging from two to six months from the date of placement of order. On the other hand, the company need to maintain sufficient finished stock inventory of its wide product array to respond market demands in a time bound manner. The debtor period stood at 86 days as on 31st March, 2022 as against 98 days in the previous year. Going forward, Acuité believes that the working capital management of the company will remain at similar levels over the medium term due to the payment terms with its customers and suppliers.

Highly fragmented nature of the plywood industry and vulnerability of earnings to fluctuations in raw material prices

 The industry is highly fragmented and unorganized in nature thereby putting pressure on the profitability margins of the companies engaged in the industry. Furthermore, due to low entry barriers, the competition gets intensified, which put pressure on profitability of the existing as well as new players. Accordingly, the margins of the company may fluctuate, depending upon price movement and level of competition.
Rating Sensitivities
­Significant ramp up in the scale of operations
Deterioration in working capital cycle
 
Material covenants
­None
 
Liquidity Position
Adequate
The company’s liquidity is adequate marked by net cash accruals stood at Rs 5.15 Cr as on March 31, 2022  as against long term debt repayment of Rs. 3.65 Cr over the same period. The cash and bank balances of the company stood at Rs. 0.08 Cr as on March 31, 2022  as compared to Rs. 0.17 Cr as on March 31, 2021. The current ratio stood at 1.72 times as on March 31, 2022. However, the fund based limit utilisation remained moderately high at 84 per cent over six months ended December, 2022. The working capital intensive nature of operations of the company is marked by Gross Current Assets (GCA) of 320 days as on March 31, 2022 as against 464 days as on March 31, 2021. Acuité believes that going forward the company will maintain adequate liquidity position due to steady accruals.
 
Outlook: Stable
­Acuité believes that SPIL will maintain a stable outlook over medium term on account of experienced management, steady revenue growth and moderate financial risk profile. The outlook may be revised to ‘Positive’ in case the company achieves higher than expected improvement in its operating income and profitability while maintaining its capital structure. Conversely, the outlook may be revised to ‘Negative’ in case of substantial reduction in its operating income, sharp decline in its operating margins and further stretch in its working capital cycle.
 
Other Factors affecting Rating
­None
 

Particulars Unit FY 22 (Actual) FY 21 (Actual)
Operating Income Rs. Cr. 172.04 109.08
PAT Rs. Cr. 3.05 0.37
PAT Margin (%) 1.77 0.34
Total Debt/Tangible Net Worth Times 0.55 0.59
PBDIT/Interest Times 2.08 1.35
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
• Infrastructure Sector: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-51.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. -or more details. please refer Rating Criteria "Complexity Level Of Financial Instruments" on www.acuite.in
 

Date Name of Instruments/Facilities Term Amount (Rs. Cr) Rating/Outlook
05 Apr 2022 Letter of Credit Short Term 9.25 ACUITE A3 (Assigned)
Letter of Credit Short Term 21.00 ACUITE A3 (Assigned)
Working Capital Term Loan Long Term 3.02 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Letter of Credit Short Term 17.75 ACUITE A3 (Assigned)
Cash Credit Long Term 20.00 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Cash Credit Long Term 10.25 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Working Capital Term Loan Long Term 2.76 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Bank Guarantee Short Term 0.75 ACUITE A3 (Assigned)
Working Capital Term Loan Long Term 6.20 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Cash Credit Long Term 3.75 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
Cash Credit Long Term 10.00 ACUITE BBB- | Stable (Assigned)
­

Lender’s Name ISIN Facilities Date Of Issuance Coupon Rate Maturity Date Quantum (Rs. Cr.) Complexity Level Rating
Punjab National Bank Not Applicable Bank Guarantee (BLR) Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 0.75 Simple ACUITE A3 | Reaffirmed
Indian Bank Not Applicable Cash Credit Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 10.50 Simple ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed
Punjab National Bank Not Applicable Cash Credit Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 39.50 Simple ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed
Punjab National Bank Not Applicable Covid Emergency Line. Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 7.76 Simple ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed
Indian Bank Not Applicable Covid Emergency Line. Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 2.22 Simple ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed
Indian Bank Not Applicable Letter of Credit Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 21.00 Simple ACUITE A3 | Reaffirmed
Punjab National Bank Not Applicable Letter of Credit Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable 21.00 Simple ACUITE A3 | Reaffirmed
Punjab National Bank Not Applicable Term Loan Not available Not available Not available 2.00 Simple ACUITE BBB- | Stable | Reaffirmed

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