ICRA

Stricter lending norms adopted in face of slew of concerns will restrict asset growth OF NBFC-MFIs to 5 per cent in FY25, a report by Icra said on Thursday. Icra has assigned a negative outlook on the sector, given the significant near-term headwinds on growth, asset quality and profitability. The last two years had seen a robust expansion in assets under management for non-banking finance companies-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) but the same is set to moderate to 0-5 per cent in FY25, the report said. The agency attributed the fall in growth to challenges stemming from borrower over-leveraging, socio-political disruptions, and employee attrition-led operational challenges. The sharp increase in the overall overdue book in H1 FY2025 also poses a significant downside risks to the near-term loan quality of the sector, it said. The credit costs will increase to 5.4-5.6 per cent from 2.2 per cent in FY24 for NBFC-MFI entities, the agency said, adding that this, along with a ..

Domestic air traffic is projected to rise 7-10 per cent to 164-170 million in the current fiscal year, while the aviation industry's loss is pegged at Rs 2,000-3,000 crore during the same period, according to rating agency Icra. In the first half of 2024-25, Icra said domestic air passenger traffic stood at 79.3 million, marking a 5.3 per cent annual growth that was partly impacted by the severe heat wave and other weather-related disruptions. The international passenger traffic growth for Indian carriers increased and stood at 16.2 per cent in the first half of the current financial year. On Tuesday, the rating agency said domestic air traffic is expected to jump 7-10 per cent on an annual basis to 164-170 million in FY2025. Icra maintained a 'stable' outlook on the Indian aviation industry, amidst continued growth in domestic and international air passenger traffic. Kinjal Shah, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head at Icra, said the industry is expected to report a net loss of

Rating agency ICRA on Monday said it expects sequential revenue growth for India Inc in the December quarter, led by improved rural demand and uptick in government spending, additionally supported by the festival season. However, headwinds such as uneven urban demand and evolving global uncertainties could weigh on growth in the second half of the fiscal, it said. On balance, ICRA said it expects the operating profit margin (OPM) for India Inc to improve in the coming quarters. As a result, the credit metrics of India Inc in the October-December period of FY25 are estimated to improve with the interest coverage ratio in the range of 4.5-5 times, against 4.1 times in Q2 FY25, the agency said. Commenting on the trends, Kinjal Shah, Senior Vice President and Co-Group Head -- Corporate Ratings, ICRA -- said while corporate India witnessed a muted sequential revenue growth in Q2 FY2025, led by the ongoing slowdown in urban demand, lower government spending amid monsoon-related disruptio

The CPI inflation for Q3 FY2025 is expected to overshoot the MPC's estimate of 4.8 per cent for the quarter by at least 60-70 bps

Rating agency Icra has revised down its volume growth forecast for the cement industry to 4-5 per cent at 445-450 million tonne for the current fiscal on account of sluggish construction activity. In July this year, Icra had forecast a year-on-year volume growth of 7-8 per cent, expecting a better pick-up in demand in the second half. However, Icra has now revised its projection "on account of slower-than-expected ramp-up in construction activity across the housing and infrastructure sectors, post the General Elections," a statement said. Besides, on a YoY basis, the operating profit margins declined by 375 basis points to 12 per cent in Q2 FY2025 and by 192 bps to 14 per cent in H1 FY2025 as prices remained under pressure due to muted demand and oversupply. In the first half of FY25 all-India cement volumes witnessed a muted rise of 2 per cent YoY to 212 million tonne on account of the slowdown in construction activity in Q1 during the elections, followed by the ample monsoon ...

ICRA Analytics Limited (ICRA Analytics), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICRA Ltd, has announced its foray into the USD 3-5 billion Indian cyber security market through a collaboration with Bitsight, a leading global cyber risk management firm and a Moody's partner. This partnership will enable ICRA Analytics to offer cutting-edge cyber risk management solutions to clients across India, the company said. "The Indian cyber security market is estimated to be valued at approximately USD 3-5 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13-15 per cent over the next five years. ICRA Analytics expects this foray to support its business growth in the future," ICRA Analytics MD & CEO Jayanta Chatterjee told PTI. "Our collaboration with Bitsight will enable us to deliver next-generation cyber risk solutions across India. This strengthens our bouquet of offerings under the risk management platform and ensures access to superior quality cyber risk management frameworks for our clients," he said

Domestic rating agency Icra on Wednesday said India's real GDP growth for the September quarter is likely to decline to 6.5 per cent due to heavy rains and weaker corporate performance. The agency, however, maintained its FY25 growth estimate at 7 per cent on expectations of a pick up in economic activity in the second half of the fiscal. The estimates and commentary on the outlook come at a time when there are concerns around the growth slowdown on a slew of factors like slowing down urban demand. The RBI is sticking to its estimate of 7.2 per cent growth for the fiscal, but a majority of watchers expect it to be under the 7 per cent figure and many have been revising down in the last few weeks. Official data for the Q2 economic activity is expected to be published on November 30. In Q1, the GDP expansion had come at 6.7 per cent. Icra said the dip in Q2 will be due to factors like heavy rains and weak corporate margins. "While government spending and kharif sowing have shown ..

Domestic renewable energy capacity is expected to reach the 250 GW level by March 2026, Icra said on Tuesday. The capacity addition will be driven by the large project pipeline of over 80 GW, following the significant improvement in tendering activity in FY2024, the rating agency said. In a note, Icra said it expects the installed renewable energy capacity, including large hydro projects, in India to increase to about 250 GW by March 2026 from the level of 201 GW as of September 2024. "We expect the rooftop solar segment and the commercial & industrial (C&I) segments to contribute significantly to the capacity addition. Nevertheless, challenges remain on the execution front with respect to delays in land acquisition and transmission connectivity, which, if sustained, could hamper the sector's prospects," Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head - Corporate Ratings at Icra, said. ICRA expects the energy storage capacity requirement at 50 GW by 2030, which ...

Rating agency Icra on Monday revised downwards the outlook for passenger vehicle factory dispatches to showrooms in the current fiscal on acccount of high inventory levels. Despite good retail sales, a year-on-year growth of 6 per cent in April-October FY2025 partially on account of an early festive season, the high inventory levels for the industry curtailed wholesale volume growth, as per a report on the domestic automotive industry by the domestic ratings agency. "ICRA has thus revised the outlook for the wholesale volume growth for the industry in FY2025 downwards to 0-2 per cent," it added. The rating agency had earlier pegged PV wholesale growth at 3-6 per cent for 2024-25 fiscal. Retail sales of passenger vehicles during the festive season grew at a moderate pace of 6 per cent year-on-year to 6.5 lakh units, aided by attractive discounts and competitive financing rates. ICRA also revised the outlook for the wholesale volume growth for the industry to 11-14 per cent in FY202

Public offer expected to comprise a fresh issue of around Rs 350 cr and an offer for sale by earlier shareholders

Nayar emphasised the importance of local inflation factors like food and rent on inflation expectations

The volatility in inflation still remains substantial and interest rates are not expected to come down, weighing on private capex

For the first time in 42 months, the output of the core sector has contracted (-1.6 per cent) during August.

India's data centre capacity is expected to reach 2,000-2,100 megawatts (MW) by FY2027, with anticipated investments of Rs 50,000-55,000 crore fuelled by digital boom and data localisation efforts, according to credit rating agency Icra. The current capacity stands at 950 MW, with major players like NTT Global Data Centers, CtrlS Data Centres, STT Global Data Centers, Sify Technologies and Nxtra Data controlling 85 per cent of the market (as of March 2024), Icra said in a statement. Icra Vice President Anupama Reddy said the surge in data generation and the push for data localization are driving a transformative shift in India's data centre landscape. "The low data tariff plans, access to affordable smartphones, adoption of new technologies and growing user base of social media, e-commerce, gaming and OTT platforms are some of the key triggers for data explosion," she said. Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI) led demand, which is expected to increase multi-fold in the next 3-5 .

Indian apparel exporters are expected to register a 9-11 per cent revenue expansion in FY25 aided primarily by gradual liquidation of retail inventory in key end markets and a shift in global sourcing to India, ratings agency ICRA on Monday. The long-term prospects for Indian apparel exports are favourable, aided by enhanced product acceptance in end markets, evolving consumer trends and a boost from the government in the form of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, export incentives, the proposed free trade agreement with the UK and the EU, among others, ICRA said in a statement. The expected growth this fiscal follows a tepid performance in FY24 when exports were affected because of high retail inventory, sluggish demand from the key end markets, supply chain issues, including the Red Sea crisis and heightened competition from neighbouring countries, it added. With the revival in demand, ICRA said it expects the capex spending to increase in FY2025 and FY2026 and may stay

CRISIL's consolidated net profit in Q3 2024 rose by 12.86 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 171.55 crore

According to ICRA, the total revenues of the sample states are expected to rise by 10 per cent in FY25 compared to the previous year, well below the 18 per cent growth projected in the FY25 BE

Around 1.1 million medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs), older than 15 years as of March 31 this year, offer a significant potential for scrappage, ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. While the actual scrappage could possibly be lower given the nature of usage of such vehicles, even if a proportion of these vehicles gets scrapped, it can support vehicle sales to some extent by spurring replacement demand, it said. The Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme or the Scrappage Policy, announced in March 2021, is being implemented in phases, with effect from April 1 last year. While the first phase of the policy proposed to mandatorily scrap government vehicles older than 15 years, the second phase, which started on June 1 this year, mandates scrapping on the basis of fitness of the vehicle rather than age, and as such, is more voluntary in nature. ICRA also projects an additional around 5.7 lakh vehicles to cross the 15-year age threshold by March 2027, along with ..

Alcoholic beverages (alcobev) companies in India are expected to report a revenue growth of 8 to 10 per cent in this financial year supported by a revival in consumption of spirits, according to a report by rating agency ICRA. The growth in the topline will also be helped by the premiumisation trend, it added. Moreover, "revenue increase in FY2025 will additionally be supported by the price hikes granted by a few state governments in the current fiscal," it said. However, operating profit margin (OPM) is expected to remain stable at 12-13 per cent in FY2025 due to decline in packaging material cost, despite increase in grain prices in H1 FY2025. "During Q1 FY2025, the spirits industry reported a 9 per cent year-on-year increase in revenues, supported by 5-7 per cent improvement in realisations, while volumes grew by 2-4 per cent," it said. Even the beer industry witnessed a higher revenue growth of 12 per cent in Q1 FY2025 owing to 3-5 per cent increase in volumes and 7-9 per cent

The domestic road logistics industry is expected to register a growth of up to 9 per cent in revenues in the ongoing 2024-25 financial year, according to Icra. The organised road logistics sector had witnessed a growth 4.6 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the ratings agency said in a report. As per Icra, the industry logged a revenue of Rs 23,273 crore in FY24. "Icra expects the revenues of the Indian road logistics industry to grow by a moderate 6-9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in FY25," it said. The agency further said it also maintains a stable outlook for the sector, fuelled by various government measures and policies in favour of the sector on expectations of good demand outlook from segments like e-commerce, FMCG, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods. Srikumar Krishnamurthy, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head Corporate Ratings, Icra Ltd, said, "In FY24, the growth was subdued on account of a relatively muted demand amid high inflation, an uneven .