Jain Irrigations: Receivables flow changes fortunes

Micro-irrigation leader Jain Irrigation is on a recovery path after getting weighed down by receivables for the last three years, which at one point stretched to nearly one year of its sales and resulted in over 75% erosion of its market cap.

Gross receivables in micro-irrigation improved for the fifth consecutive quarter to 279 days at the end September '13.

Its other businesses, including piping and agro, are growing faster as well. The company is yet to show any improvement in the two critical matrices -- debt and interest outgo -- but the recent credit rating upgrade and a seasonally better second half are expected to help it trim Rs 500 crore of debt by FY14-end.