Brickwork Ratings revises the ratings for the Bank Loan Facilities of Rs. 35.62 Crs. of Raj Television Network Limited
ParticularsFacilities** | Amount (Rs.Crs.) | Tenure | Rating# | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Previous | Present | Previous (15 Jun 2020) |
Present | ||
Fund Based | 30.00 | 35.62 | Long Term |
BWR BB
/INC Downgraded and migrated to INC |
BWR BB +
/Stable Upgrade |
Grand Total | 30.00 | 35.62 | (Rupees Thirty Five Crores and Sixty Two lakhs Only) |
The rating factors three decade long experience of the company as well as its promoters in the south Indian television industry. The company had been in the production of several shows which gave wider outreach to viewers and good presence and connectivity in South India and Middle East countries and also contributed to higher revenues. However the rating is constrained by muted revenue and declining operating profitability in FY20 and 9MFY2021 due to the impact of Covid19. The company is also exposed to the risks inherent to the media and entertainment industry in terms of linkage of advertisement revenue, intense competition due to entry of many new channels coupled with the emergence of alternative content delivery platforms, such as digital media, resulting in fragmentation of the viewership.
KEY RATING DRIVERSCredit Strengths:
The promoters of the company have experience of more than three decades in the South Indian Television market. This has helped the company to expand its network in major parts of South India.
The Company has developed a strong back-end infrastructure in the form of production facilities, studios and related amenities to create its own content without having to depend on external providers of these services. This provides the Company with the flexibility to schedule its content development activities according to market demand as well as independence from external service providers.
The Company has, over the last 24 years, developed a strong distribution team for ground level interface with MSOs and cable operators on a day to day basis. The marketing team of the company has effectively built a strong relationship network with major advertisers and media buying agencies. Further the company has distributors across the globe, which aid in generating export revenues.The management is proposing to create an app to watch movies, serials and live TV in competition with other OTT players. This is expected to boost the revenues in medium term.
Credit Risks:
The company faces stiff competition from well established broadcasters in Southern India. Major portion of the revenue comes from advertising and the operating margin of media houses remains vulnerable to economic downturn as advertisement revenue is linked to economic conditions. Revival in macroeconomic environment and its impact on company's operating performance will remain a key monitorable.
Revenue from operations marginally declined from Rs. 62.20 Crs. in FY19 to Rs.59.16 Crs. in FY20. Operating profit declined from Rs. 13.54 Crs. to Rs. 11.38 Crs. and net profit from Rs.5.40 Crs. to Rs. 0.01 Crs. over the same period. Owing to COVID 19 disruptions, the company was unable to translate the production cost into income, that has resulted in low operating profit and net profit of Rs. (0.16) Crs and (9.87) Crs for 9MFY21. Total debt marginally declined from Rs. 36.03 Crs.in FY 2019 to Rs.35.34 Crs.in FY 2020. The company had contracted debt to the tune of Rs.22.21 crores for acquisition of satellite rights. This has resulted in higher debt repayments of Rs. 9.54 Crs and low DSCR of 0.89 times in FY 2020. Tangible net worth (TNW) is at Rs. 77.02 Crs as on 31st March 2020 and gearing is low at 0.46 times as on 31st March 2020. ISCR remains moderate at 2.54 times in FY20. The Company reported net revenue of Rs. 47.74 Crs. in 9MFY21 against Rs. 43.24 Crs in 9MFY20.
The company had been affected by suspension of media activities between March to June 2020 owing to Covid which had an adverse impact on operations and with raising COVID cases and possibility of another lock down is expected to impact the financial performance in the short term.
For arriving at its ratings, Brickwork Ratings has applied its rating methodology as detailed in the Rating criteria below (hyperlinks provided at the end of this rationale). The Company does not have any subsidiary as on 31Mar2020.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
BWR believes the Raj Television Network Limited business risk profile will be maintained over the medium term. The ‘Stable’ outlook indicates a low likelihood of rating change over the medium term. The rating outlook may be revised to 'Positive' in case the revenues and profit show sustained improvement. The rating outlook may be revised to 'Negative' if the revenues go down and profit margins show lower than expected figure.
LIQUIDITY INDICATORS - StretchedAs the operations are working capital intensive, the Company had utilized ~90 % of the available limits in the past 6 months ending March 2021. For FY 2020, the company generated EBITDA of Rs. 11.38 Crs and serviced interest and finance charges to the tune of Rs. 4.48 Crs. However the net cash accruals post interest servicing were only around Rs. 6.90 crores vis-a-vis the debt repayments of Rs. 9.54 crores during FY 2020. Cash & Cash Equivalents were at Rs. 2.75 Crs.as on 31Mar2020 and the Current Ratio was at 1.75 times as on 31Mar2020. Given the net cash accruals and cash and cash equivalents with high debt obligations for FY21, the liquidity position of the Company appears stretched. ABOUT THE ENTITY
The Raj Television Network Limited ("RTNL") is a BSE listed company incorporated on June 3, 1994 under erstwhile Companies Act 1956. The company is one of the largest Television satellite broadcasters in south India. RTNL was promoted by Mr. Raajhendhran with his three brothers in 1994. Prior to the incorporation the promoters were in the business of movie production in the brand name of "Raj Video Vision" since 1983 .
The company undertakes several production projects with the right mix of self produced and outsourced productions. With self-produced content, the company gets complete right over the content, and can build its own intellectual property base. Raj TV currently operates 12 Television channels in five languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. The Channel offers a right mix of movies, serials, debates, cultural, educational, cookery, handicrafts and religious programmes satisfying the needs of the entire community ranging from Urban to the rural audience. Raj TV, Raj Music Tamil, Raj Digital Plus, Raj Music Kannada & Raj News Kannada, Raj Music Telugu & Raj News Telugu, Vissa-Telugu, Raj Pariwar-Hindi, Raj Music Malayalam & Raj News Malayalam, Raj Movies Tamil, Raj Nagaichuvai, Raj TV Asia are the channels operated by Raj Television Network. The company has library of films ranging different languages with 2641 (649 blockbuster, 1469 Hits, 479 Average and 20 below average movies) valuing Rs. 964 Crs. KEY FINANCIAL INDICATORS (Standalone)Key Parameters | Units |
FY 19-20 (Audited) |
FY 18-19 (Audited) |
---|---|---|---|
Operating Revenue | Rs.Crs. | 59.16 | 62.20 |
EBITDA | Rs.Crs. | 11.38 | 13.54 |
PAT | Rs.Crs. | 0.01 | 5.40 |
Tangible Net Worth | Rs.Crs. | 77.02 | 84.31 |
Total Debt/Tangible Net Worth | Times | 0.46 | 0.43 |
Current Ratio | Times | 1.54 | 1.98 |
The terms of sanction include standard covenants normally stipulated for such facilities
Facilities | Current Rating (2021) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Tenure | Amount (Rs.Crs.) |
Rating | Date | Rating | Date | Rating | Date | Rating |
Fund Based | LT | 35.62 |
BWR BB+/Stable
(Upgrade) |
15Jun2020 |
BWR BB/INC
(Downgraded and migrated to INC) |
06Mar2019 |
BWR BBB-
(REAFFIRMATION) |
NA |
NA
|
Grand Total | 35.62 | (Rupees Thirty Five Crores and Sixty Two lakhs Only) |
BWR complexity levels are meant for educating investors. The BWR complexity levels are available at www.brickworkratings.com / download / ComplexityLevels.pdf. Investors queries can be sent to info@brickworkratings.com.
Analytical Contacts | |
---|---|
Kaushik Srikanth V Rating Analyst kaushik.s@brickworkratings.com |
Parvathavardhini N Associate Director Ratings parvathavardhini.n@brickworkratings.com |
1-860-425-2742 | media@brickworkratings.com |
SL.No. | Type Of Facilities | Long Term(Rs.Crs.) | Short Term(Rs.Crs.) | Total(Rs.Crs.) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cash CreditSanctioned | 13.00 | _ | 13.00 | ||
2 | Term LoanSanctioned | 5.71 | _ | 5.71 | ||
3 | Corporate LoanSanctioned | 10.76 | _ | 10.76 | ||
4 | Working Capital Term LoanSanctioned | 5.00 | _ | 5.00 | ||
5 | Working Capital Demand LoanSanctioned | 1.15 | _ | 1.15 | ||
Total | 35.62 | 0.00 | 35.62 | |||
TOTAL (Rupees Thirty Five Crores and Sixty Two lakhs Only) |
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