Crisil shares close nearly 3% lower as Q4PAT drops 5% to nearly ₹138 crore

Shares of rating agency Crisil Ltd closed 3% lower on Tuesday, April 16, after the company reported more than 5% decline in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

Crisil reported a profit after tax of ₹137.7 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, which was 5.5% lower than ₹145.8 crore in the same quarter of the preceding fiscal.

The rating agency’s consolidated income from operations rose by 3.2% to ₹737.7 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to ₹714.9 crore in the year ago period. Consolidated total income was up 3.6% year-on-year (YoY) at ₹758.8 crore in the last quarter of FY24.

Research Analytics revenue remains flat in Q4

Revenue from rating services rose to ₹202.17 crore in Q4FY24 against ₹186.51 crore in the year-ago period. Research, Analytics and Solutions segment’s revenue was almost flat at ₹535.51 crore in the March quarter compared to ₹528.38 crore in Q4FY23.

The company in a statement said, “CRISIL Ratings maintained its leadership in corporate bond ratings given investor preference for best-in-class ratings. Overall, revenue grew 11.7% on-year during the quarter.”

The ratings services segment saw revenue growing 8.4% on-year during the quarter.

Crisil MD flags global growth worries

Crisil expects global growth to moderate in 2024 due to a host of factors. “While global economic growth surprised on the upside in 2023, it is now expected to moderate in 2024. The momentum in India continues to be good, underscoring the country's growth potential, though private consumption growth bears watching,” Crisil Managing Director and CEO Amish Mehta said in a statement.

Global banking clients remain cautious because of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, and are aiming for operational efficiencies, regulatory compliance and business transformation, he said.

Crisil projected moderation in India's GDP growth to 6.8% in fiscal 2025 due to high interest rates, fiscal consolidation and uneven global growth. It stated that corporate bond issuances grew 9% on-year in the quarter ended March 31, 2024, vs 28% for full year 2023.

Bank credit growth was 16.5%, driven by demand from the retail and services sectors. Large corporate credit growth was tepid at 6.6%.

Crisil shares closed 2.8% lower at ₹4,700 on NSE.

Board approves interim dividend of ₹7 per share

The Crisil board also approved the payment of an interim dividend of ₹ 7 per equity share of the face value of Re 1 each, for the financial year ending December 31, 2024. The dividend will be paid on May 14, 2024.

The board also approved the appointment of S N Ananthasubramanian and Co as the Secretarial Auditor of the company.