MUMBAI, June 24: Credit rating agency ICRA Ltd has downgraded fixed deposits of Ansal Properties and Industries Ltd to `MA' from `MAA-'. The revised rating indicates adequate safety. It has also been placed under rating watch with negative implication.ICRA said the downgrade takes into account the downturn in the real estate market. The downturn has affected the company's sales performance and there have been delays in sale of a few projects involving substantial costs. However, the company has a large asset base in Gurgaon area where its cost of acquisition is much below the prevailing market price. It is planning to sell some of its properties and reschedule existing loans to tide over the liquidity problem.ICRA has also downgraded the rating assigned to the Rs 10.1 crore non-convertible debentures and fixed deposits of Indian Seamless Financial Services to `LBB' and `MB' respectively, from `LA' and `MA'. Both the revised ratings indicate adequate safety. They have also been placed under ratingwatch. Meanwhile, the ratings of the non-convertible debentures (NCD) of Cosmo Films Ltd (CFL) and International Combustion (India) have been downgraded to BBB- and BB respectively by the Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil).Cosmo Films' (CFL) NCD issues totalling Rs 17.83 crore have been downgraded to BBB- from A-, to reflect the over capacity in the flexible packaging industry coupled with the sluggish demand that has resulted in a considerable decline in realisations and consequent deterioration in the company's financial performance. The performance of the firm in the short to medium term depends on its ability to further push export volumes while maintaining its level of contributions.Though CFL continues to be among the better players in the BOPP (bi-axially oriented poly propylene) film industry in terms of technical strength and product range, Crisil expects the pressure on cash flow from operations to continue for the company along with large repayment obligations in thefinancial year 1997-98.International Combustion's (ICL) Rs 7.2 crore NCD programme has been downgraded by Crisil to BB from BBB, indicating an expected significant deterioration in its financial risk profile and its stretched liquidity position. ICL's revised rating also factors the continued sluggish performance of the mineral beneficiation industry, the sustained weakening of the firm's business risk profile.
