Rating Agencies

In January 2020, Sebi and the Reserve Bank of India had undertaken a joint inspection of Brickwork, where the two regulators found "several irregularities"

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Tuesday said corporate credit profile continued its robust performance in the first half of the current fiscal with 202 issuers getting rating upgrades. Large corporates and A-rated corporates witnessed a higher number of upgrades in the first half of the fiscal, taking the downgrade-to-upgrade (D/U) ratio to a low at 0.31 for the first half, said Arvind Rao, Head of Credit Policy Group, Ind-Ra. "The corporate credit profile continued its robust performance in 1HFY25, the fourth year in a row. During this period, Ind-Ra upgraded the ratings of 202 issuers, representing 20 per cent of the reviewed portfolio, while the ratings of 62 issuers were downgraded," Ind-Ra said in a statement. Rao further said that the D/U ratio is expected to moderate marginally in the current fiscal, compared to 0.37 in the 2023-24 fiscal. "We expect issuer rating upgrades to outpace downgrades in the second half of the current fiscal," Rao said. Ind-Ra said that dur

The PLI scheme is expected to attract investments of Rs 3-4 lakh crore in the next four years and generate 2 lakh jobs as large projects in sectors, including semiconductor, solar module and pharmaceutical intermediaries, are expected to take off, a top Icra executive said on Wednesday. Icra Executive Vice President and Chief Ratings Officer K Ravichandran said that going ahead private sector capex is expected to pick up in oil and gas, metals and mining, hospitals, healthcare and cement sectors. However, taking the private sector capex to record high levels would require the government to give some tax breaks so that people have more disposable income in their hands. "Under the PLI scheme, we are expecting Rs 3-4 lakh crore of additional investments in the next 3-4 years. Going ahead, semiconductor, solar module, and pharmaceutical intermediaries are some areas where large projects are expected to happen which can be capital and employment-intensive. They would be generating 2 lakh

Rating agencies, such as Fitch and Moody's, said broad policy continuity may persist

Fiscal position should be improved with sustained growth

Care Ratings on Friday reported a 35 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 34.8 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024. The domestic rating agency had a profit after tax of Rs 25.9 crore in the January-March quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal. Total income rose 13 per cent to Rs 88.5 crore during the March quarter, Care Ratings said in a late night regulatory filing on Thursday. For the 2023-24 fiscal, the standalone net profit rose 15 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 119.4 crore. Total income also grew 15 per cent to Rs 330 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal. The board of Care Ratings has declared a final dividend of Rs 11/share, which will take the total declared for the year to Rs 18/share. Shares of Care Ratings were trading at Rs 1,104.20 on Friday in early trade on BSE, up 0.29 per cent over the previous close.

The company's credit ratings segment posted revenue of $684 million, compared with analysts' average estimate of $699 million, according to LSEG

Crisil Ratings has upgraded its ratings on Adani Power's Rs 38,000 crore of bank loan facilities to 'AA-', saying the business and financial risk profile of the company has seen "strong improvement". The loan facilities were rated 'A' with a stable outlook earlier. "The rating upgrade follows the strong improvement in the business and financial risk profiles of APL," Crisil Ratings said in a report. The upgradation is driven by better-than-expected operating performance backed by timely commissioning and ramp-up of the Godda power plant (1.6 GW), Mahan power plant (1.2 GW), full recovery of pending regulatory dues related to claims for fuel costs as pass-through under change in law clauses of existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) and continued improvement in receivables, it said. "The rating also factors in the completion of most of the regulatory investigations into Adani Group. Regulatory investigations in two remaining allegations are underway and are expected to be complete

Fitch Ratings said that though the interim budget presented was broadly in line with the expectations, it won't change the sovereign credit profile from 'BBB-' with a stable outlook

Rating agency Icra on Wednesday revised upward its bank credit growth projection at 14.9-15.3 per cent this fiscal, but said the same will lose steam and grow at 12 per cent next fiscal. At 14.9-15.3 per cent, the system level credit expansion in absolute terms will be Rs 20.4-20.9 lakh crore, it said, adding this will be the highest ever incremental bank credit growth and would surpass the previous high of Rs 18.2 lakh crore recorded in FY23 at a growth rate of 15.4 per cent. The agency had earlier estimated a 12.8-13 per cent credit demand for this fiscal. However, citing the rising global headwinds and also the higher base coupled with the challenges in deposit mobilisation, the agency said it expects the rate of incremental credit expansion to slow down to Rs 19-20.5 lakh crore or 11.7-12.6 per cent in FY25. Weaker export demand in certain sectors, softer commodity prices, and challenges in deposit mobilisation could temper bank credit growth in FY2025, it added. Further, the

For Adani Electricity, the agency expects its ability to generate operating cash flow compared to its debt to improve to above 10% in fiscal 2024 and 2025

External factors like geopolitical tensions and energy prices must be monitored, says rating agency

It also upgraded Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc's (JLR) CFR to "Ba3" from "B1"

The upgrade reflects our expectation of the continued strength in Tata Steel's credit profile due to the company's solid market position in India," the ratings agency said

Moody's Investors Service on Friday raised India's growth projection for 2023 calendar year to 6.7 per cent on account of robust economic momentum. "Strong services expansion and capital expenditures propelled India's 7.8 per cent real GDP growth in the second (April-June) quarter from a year ago. We have accordingly raised our 2023 calendar year growth forecast for India from 5.5 per cent to 6.7 per cent," Moody's said in its Global Macro Outlook. "Given the robust underlying economic momentum, we also recognise further upside risk to India's economic growth performance," it added Moody's said since the second quarter outperformance creates a high base in 2023, "we have lowered our 2024 growth forecast from 6.5 per cent to 6.1 per cent". India's monsoon season which runs from June to October could also see below average rainfall, resulting in higher food prices. So far, as of August 29, the India Meteorological Department has estimated a 9 per cent rain deficiency across the ...

Domestic ratings agency Icra on Monday said it expects a rate cut by the Reserve Bank to happen only in the July-September quarter next year. The overall cuts in the cycle will be a "shallow" 0.50-0.75 per cent, the agency said. A rate hike by RBI is possible only if the headline inflation is at over 6 per cent for two consecutive quarters, the agency said. "The MPC's (Monetary Policy Committee) latest forecasts suggest inflation will remain above 5 per cent through Q1 FY2025, based on which we have pushed out our forecast for the earliest cut to Q2 FY2025," the agency said. The official data released on Monday said consumer price inflation (CPI) spiked to a 15-month high of 7.4 per cent for July. "The data for food prices for early August 2023 is not very promising, and we expect the headline CPI inflation to print above the 6.5 per cent mark in August, before cooling off materially in September," its chief economist Aditi Nayar said. She attributed the much sharper than expecte

The rating for Rs 10,000-crore certificate of deposits (CoD) factors-in the long track record of operations, comfortable capitalisation levels, diversified advances book and deposit base

In April this year, the rating agency said that a credible refinancing plan at least six months before maturity, due in Jan 24, would be important to maintain the current rating

Rating for companies based on their EBITDA growth and improved finances

Restoring their credibility is crucial in order to make the world a fairer and flatter place