CRISIL Ratings has upgraded its rating for Non-fund-based long-term bank facilities of INR 1,000 crore of ACME Solar Holdings Ltd (ACME Solar) to ‘Crisil AA-/Stable’ from ‘Crisil A+/Positive’.
As the highest ratings upgrade for the company, the CRISIL Ratings potentially enable ACME Solar to reduce its cost of debt across the company and its projects. This is the second AA-/Stable rating received by ACME Solar Holdings Ltd.
This Rating upgrade factors in healthy growth in ACME Solar’s operating portfolio, a healthy execution track record, timely stabilization of assets, refinancing of its projects to lower the cost of debt, enabling improvement in operating cash flows.
Additionally, CRISIL has factored in PPA/BESPA signed under-construction portfolio of portfolio of 2.84GW Solar FDRE, Hybrid and Wind Projects and 550MWh standalone BESS project to be executed over the next 2-3 years through prudent capital allocation and the strong liquidity profile with consolidated free cash & cash equivalents of more than INR 1,400 crore (out of which more than INR 800 crore are at standalone level of ACME Solar).
This should support the future equity requirements of the company in timely execution of its projects. The CRISIL Ratings positively reflect the track record of development and operation of renewable power assets and above-average financial profile supported by a diverse portfolio of ACME Solar’s assets.
