The PBT before EO rose by just 2% to Rs 23.04 crore after providing for the interest cost and the depreciation allowance. However lesser provisioning for the diminution in carrying value of Investments during the quarter under review as compared to the same quarter of the previous year enabled the company to post a PBT after EO of Rs 22.60 crore (18% higher on year-on-year basis). The provisioning for the quarter was Rs 43 lakh as compared to 3.39 crore during the same quarter of the previous year. The net profit after tax increased 24% to Rs 15.85 crore on a year-on-year basis.

ICRA Online, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company and IDEA carbon have signed a strategic alliance on 6^th April 2010 that will enable the carbon credit markets in India gain transparency and facilitate its efficient growth. IDEA carbon owns The Carbon Rating Agency and is a pioneer in creating efficiency measures for the global carbon market. The announcement of the strategic alliance with ICRA brings to India the facility of establishing best practices and the matchless expertise of IDEA carbon in assessing risks associated with carbon market instruments along with its understanding of climate change economics.

The company's board approved a dividend of Rs 17 per share for the year ended March 2010.

Consolidated performance for the quarter and year ended March 2010

Quarter ended March 2010-

The rating major posted a benign operating numbers during the 4^th quarter ended March 2010. Although the top-line rose 17% to Rs 50.70 crore, primarily driven by the rating business which increased 15%, the operating performance was significantly impacted due to higher operating expenses during the quarter under review. The rating business contributed a major 65% of the revenue of the company while the consulting services contributed 15% and the rest was contributed by the information services, outsourced services and IT services businesses. The consulting services business posted a revenue growth of 63% on a year-on-year basis while the revenue of the information services and outsourced services businesses rose 13% and 80% respectively. The RBI's guidelines on use of ratings assigned by external rating agencies and the expected pick-up in grading of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) will be the major driver for growth in rating services. The company also plans to diversify into other knowledge based service offerings going ahead.

Higher operating expenses dented the OPM by 420 bps to 41% thus slowing the absolute operating profit growth to just 6% at Rs 20.80 crore. The PBT before EO rose by just 2% to Rs 23.04 crore after providing for the interest cost and the depreciation allowance. However lesser provisioning for the diminution in carrying value of Investments during the quarter under review as compared to the same quarter of the previous year enabled the company to post a PBT after EO of Rs 22.60 crore (18% higher on year-on-year basis). The provisioning for the quarter was Rs 43 lakh as compared to 3.39 crore during the same quarter of the previous year. The net profit after tax increased 24% to Rs 15.85 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Year ended March 2010-

The performance during the year ended March 2010 was pretty decent. Backed by excellent growth in the rating business, the overall top-line rose 20% to Rs 162.32 crore as compared to the previous fiscal. The rating business rose 20% to Rs 106.15 crore while the consultancy business revenue rose 15% to Rs 21.65 crore during the year under review. The OPM however corrected 360 bps to 37.4% due to higher employee cost, administration expenses and other operating expenses. Thus the absolute operating profit only rose 9% to Rs 60.74 crore.

After providing for the interest cost and the depreciation allowance the PBT before EO posted an increase of 7% to Rs 70.77 crore. Reversal of diminution in carrying value of investments during the period stood at Rs 8.49 crore as compared to Rs 9.19 crore provisions for diminution provided during the previous year. Thus the PBT after EO increased 40% to Rs 79.26 crore. The net profit after tax increased 38% to Rs 53.48 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Other developments

ICRA Management Consulting Services (IMaCS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company and Virtus Global Partners, Inc. (VGP) have announced a joint venture to provide business consulting and transaction advisory services to companies and financial investors in the US. The joint venture, named IMaCS Virtus Global Partners, Inc. is headquartered at New York and will target clients both in India and in the US. IMaCS and VGP have been working together on several projects for the past two years and this JV strengthens the partnership to present a seamless front to service the huge need for business consulting and transaction services in the Indo-US corridor and also in North America. VGP has expertise in cross-border M&A advisory and strategy consulting across various industry sectors. IMaCS is a multi-line management consulting firm with a clientele of over 500 and a footprint across 35 countries around the globe. IMaCS practice areas include Strategy consulting, Risk analytics, Process re-engineering, Regulation & reform, and Transaction advisory services in several verticals including Banking & Finance, Energy, Transportation, Telecom & Technology Engineering & Automotive, Water & Urban services, Consumer goods, Healthcare, and Education.

ICRA Online, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company and IDEA carbon have signed a strategic alliance on 6^th April 2010 that will enable the carbon credit markets in India gain transparency and facilitate its efficient growth. IDEA carbon owns The Carbon Rating Agency and is a pioneer in creating efficiency measures for the global carbon market. The announcement of the strategic alliance with ICRA brings to India the facility of establishing best practices and the matchless expertise of IDEA carbon in assessing risks associated with carbon market instruments along with its understanding of climate change economics.

The company's board approved a dividend of Rs 17 per share for the year ended March 2010.

The promoters currently hold around 28.51% of the total issued capital of the company.

The stock is currently trading at Rs 971 on the BSE.