Rating service business which constitute around 29% of total revenue was flat on YoY basis to Rs 122.87 crore, while Research services which forms around 63% of total revenue, was up by 2% YoY to Rs 268.14 crore. Advisory service business was higher by 42% to Rs 34.45 crore.

OPM was lower by 20 bps to 26.3% which restricting the OP growth to 3% to Rs 111.98 crore.

The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin stood at 36% as compared to 37% for Sep 17 quarter and PBIDT thus stood at Rs 44.07 crore, down by 2% YoY. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 88.69 crore up by 30%, with margins at 31% as compared to 25% YoY. Advisory service segment reported a segmental profit of Rs 0.10 crore for Sep 18 quarter down by 92% YoY.

Other income was up by 624% at Rs 28.76 crore for Sep 18 quarter. The other income for Sep 18 quarter includes forex gain of Rs 13.73 crore as compared to NIL for Sep 17 quarter.

Depreciation was down by 8% to Rs 10.24 crore and thus, PBT stood at Rs 130.50 crore up by 29%. After providing total tax of Rs 40.49 crore, up by 27%, consolidated PAT for Sep 18 quarter of the company stood at Rs 90.01 crore, which was up by 30% on YoY basis.

"During the quarter, our sharp focus on driving superior customer value and relevant analytics enabled us to grow existing relationships and add new clients across businesses in a tough macro environment," said Ashu Suyash, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL. "Our continued focus on quality, and building new tools and analytics while commercialising existing products and solutions, will help us grow in a market that is likely to see continued headwinds."  

Other updates

Revenue from Ratings was driven by healthy growth in bank loan ratings, partially offset by a decline in corporate bond issuances following a rise in yields. As of end-August this year, wholesale credit grew by 11.5% versus a muted growth of 1.7% same period last year.

On the other hand, during the first nine months of calendar 2018, bond issuances dropped 38% versus a growth of 24% in the same period of 2017.

Research is seeing significant changes in the landscape globally as well as in India. Rising market volatility and cost pressures arising from MiFID II implementation is leading to several first-time offshorers looking to third-party providers for research solutions. That, in addition to company's sharp focus on building a solution suite, has contributed to the global research business continuing to add clients. Maturing regulations in the US have impacted demand for traditional regulatory and risk services.

The company is now seeing new demand emerging for similar services from other key markets that are tightening their regulatory stance. Consequently, business has sharpened focus on accelerating product development and is investing in new customer analytics and coverage.

CRISIL Coalition saw strong growth backed by renewals and improving price realisation as top global banks looked for deeper insights and client analytics. Further, with demand for data increasing, several clients have been on-boarded to the Quantix and the enhanced Cutting Edge platforms of company's India Research business. Growth in the Advisory segment was led by Pragmatix Services Pvt Ltd, which was acquired earlier this year.

Infrastructure Advisory also won prestigious mandates from multilaterals and government entities, including in the energy sector. Sharp focus on operational excellence and cost controls have helped improve margins. Forex has been favourable, too, with the dollar strengthening across currencies. During the quarter, the company released the third volume of CriSidEx, India's first sentiment index for MSMEs. Further, the company hosted events in India and abroad on topics such as 'Monitoring credit risk and research portfolios as the credit cycle changes', "The Convergence of Analytics and Operations in AML with Machine Learning", "Evolution of early warning system for lenders" and "Risk-based pricing", among others.  

The Board of Directors has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 7 per share (of Re 1 face value) for the financial year ending December 31, 2018.  

Consolidated Performance for the 9 months ended Sep18

Crisil reported consolidated net sales of Rs 1281.46 crore, up by 5% YoY for 9 months ended Sep 18.

Rating service business which constitute around 29% of total revenue was up by 3% on YoY to Rs 366.23 crore, while Research services which forms around 64% of total revenue, was up by 3% YoY to Rs 816.57 crore. Advisory service business also was higher by 42% to Rs 98.66 crore.

OPM however was higher by 20 bps to 26.6% which resulted in OP growth of 6% to Rs 341.27 crore.

The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin stood at 35% as compared to 30% for 9 months ended Sep17 and PBIDT thus stood at Rs 127.95 crore, up by 19% YoY. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 248.24 crore, up by 65% on YoY basis, with margins at 30%. Advisory service segment reported a segmental PBIDT of Rs 3.28 crore for 9 months ended Sep18, with segmental PBIDT margin at 3%.

Other income was higher by 154% to Rs 53.74 crore. There was a forex gain of around Rs 31.01 crore for 9 months ended Sep18 as compared to forex loss of Rs 14.01 crore for 9 months ended Sep 17 which is included in other expense.

Depreciation was down by 15% to Rs 31.13 crore and thus, PBT stood at Rs 362.66 crore up by 19%. After providing total tax of Rs 113.31 crore, up by 17%, consolidated PAT for 9 months ended Sep 18 of the company stood at Rs 249.35 crore, which was up by 19% on YoY basis.