Punj Lloyd to convert Rs 1,400 cr debt into dollar loans

Engineering major Punj Lloyd plans to refinance up to Rs 1,400 crore of debt into dollar loans over the next six months to cut costs and soften the impact of a falling rupee, a senior company official has said.

At present, the company’s profile of debt, and its business locations are not in harmony. While about 65-70 per cent loans of Punj Lloyd’s Rs 5,500-crore debt pile is in rupees, 65-70 per cent of its businesses are outside India.

The mismatch has led to a steep rise in finance costs for the company due to high interest rate regime in India and has made a big dent in its profitability.

“Problem is really the high interest cost. So now we are working on solutions to see how we can offshore some of the debts. There is a complete mismatch between our debt profile and our business,” Punj Lloyd’s Director (Corporate Affairs), Luv Chhabra, said.

In the last five years, Punj Lloyd’s interest outgo has risen by more than three and half times to Rs 780.76 crore in 2012-13. It stood at Rs 220.76 crore in 2008-09.

Meanwhile, the company’s net sales, at Rs 11,408 crore in FY’13, are yet to achieve the peak levels of Rs 11,876 crore which Punj Lloyd had achieved in 2008-09.

“I think in next 3-6 months, you will see a significant portion of the rupee debt changing into dollar debt. It is still work in progress but at least $200 million, so over Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1,400 crore debt will shift into a dollar-determined debt,” Chhabra said.

This will provide natural hedge to the company as earning money and repayment of debt will be in the same currency only, he said, while noting that dollar loans would also minimise the impact of fall in rupee and high interest rate regime in the country.

“Once that (converting rupee debt into dollar loans) happens on Rs 1,400 crore debt, there is straightaway Rs 50-60 crore savings a year. If there is a 4 per cent savings in interest rates, that will go straight to the bottomline,” he said, adding that Punj Lloyd has no plans to go to Corporate Debt Restructuring cell for recasting its loans.

A big challenge before the company currently is to reduce the high levels of short term borrowings (primarily working capital loans), which has more than doubled in the last three years.

Adding to the woes of the company, its long-term borrowings have declined by over 11 per cent in the same period.

In 2012-13, the short term borrowings of Punj Lloyd stood at Rs 3,661.45 crore vis-a-vis Rs 1,744.81 crore of 2010-11.

On the other hand, the long term borrowings were Rs 1,893.68 crore in the last fiscal against the levels of Rs 2,135.83 crore of 2010-11.

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