OPM was lower by 290 bps to 30.4% which resulted in OP de-growth of 6% to Rs 134.31 crore.

The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin stood at 34% as compared to 35% for Dec 16 quarter and PBIDT thus stood at Rs 43.28 crore, down by 2% YoY. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 89.77 crore down by 10%, with margins at 31% as compared to 36% YoY. Advisory service segment reported a segmental PBIDT of Rs 4.83 crore for Dec 17 quarter up by 3% YoY with segmental PBIDT margin at 17%.

Other income was lower by 64% to Rs 4.21 crore. The other income was lower due to forex loss of Rs 1.93 crore in Dec 17 quarter. Depreciation was down by 28% to Rs 9.89 crore and thus, PBT stood at Rs 128.34 crore down by 9%. After providing total tax of Rs 32.72 crore, down by 35%, consolidated PAT for Dec 17 quarter of the company stood at Rs 95.62 crore, which was up by 5% on YoY basis.

Says Ashu Suyash, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, CRISIL,

"Growth in 2017 was led by our global businesses, and supported by buoyancy in bond ratings and infrastructure advisory services domestically. But this was partially offset by adverse currency movement and the impact of subsidy reduction in the SME Ratings business. Across businesses, we have focussed on strategic shifts to cater to emerging customer needs, and therefore made substantial investments in launching new offerings and platforms."

Other updates

CRISIL Ratings continued to enhance its market position through client acquisitions. While better capital market activity helped it grow the bond ratings business, the bank loan segment remained muted due to weak credit growth. The business also received mandates for its new offerings – the Expected Loss scale, and independent credit evaluation of stressed assets. SME Ratings sharpened focus on new product development and initiated transition towards a digital model following the sharp reduction in subsidy.

Opportunities arising from regulatory controls and sharper focus on risk management augur well for the Global Research & Analytics business, which focused on expanding client footprint and new offerings. The business expanded its presence with sell side firms as a result of Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, or MiFID II, regulations. The SPARC (Shared Platform for Assessing Risk of Counterparties) and SMART (Simple, Modular, Analytics & Research Toolkit) platforms launched by the business are receiving a good response. The business registered strong growth through addition of new clients and executing more complex assignments. The business also enhanced its offerings in the Financial Crime and Compliance, Change Management and Business Transformation segments.

CRISIL Coalition delivered a strong performance by increasing its base of corporate and investment banking clients, and it also added to its offerings for regional banks. There was good traction for CRISIL Coalition's offerings in Stress Testing and TBLS (Transaction Banking, Lending and Security Services).

Quantix, the new cross-sector data analytics platform launched by CRISIL Research, has seen encouraging client response with several wins. The business saw robust growth in customised research offerings.

CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, which houses the Infrastructure Advisory and Risk Solutions businesses, saw buoyant demand for its offerings, and expanded its international footprint. Infrastructure Advisory won several prestigious assignments including for the Smart Cities Mission, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, and value capture financing. CRISIL Risk Solutions increased client engagements, launched an International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS 9, offering, and developed a model monitoring tool.

During the year, CRISIL signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pragmatix Services Pvt Ltd and the acquisition was completed in January 2018. This will enable CRISIL to leverage Pragmatix's proprietary technology platform and deep domain expertise, and enhance business intelligence, analytics and risk management offerings for the financial sector in India and abroad.

Several white papers were released, and conferences hosted in New York and London on themes such as Big Data and MiFID II during the year. In partnership with S&P Global, CRISIL also hosted events in Hong Kong and Singapore. Domestically, CRISIL continued to focus on thought leadership and franchise development through many events, webinars, reports and press releases. The first edition of the CRISIL Infrastructure Conclave proved to be a huge success, drawing wide participation from stakeholders. The conclave has become an industry platform for visioning the next phase of infrastructure growth in the country.

Consolidated Performance for the 12 months ended Dec 17

Crisil reported consolidated net sales of Rs 1661.07 crore, up by 7% YoY for 12 months ended Dec 17.

Rating service business which constitute around 29% of total revenue was up by 3% on YoY to Rs 48029 crore, while Research services which forms around 65% of total revenue, was up by 8% YoY to Rs 1080.39 crore. Advisory service business also was higher by 29% to Rs 97.78 crore.

OPM however was lower by 100 bps to 27.6% which restricted the OP growth to 3% to Rs 457.68 crore. The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin stood at 31% as compared to 31% for 12 months ended Dec 16 and PBIDT thus stood at Rs 151.20 crore, up by 6% YoY. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 308.46 crore, down by 5% on YoY basis, with margins at 29%. Advisory service segment reported a segmental PBIDT of Rs 9.24 crore for 12 months ended Dec 17, as compared to loss of Rs 0.69 crore for 12 months ended Dec 16, with segmental PBIDT margin at 9%.

Other income was lower by 53% to Rs 22.98 crore. There was a forex loss of around Rs 15 crore for 12 months ended Dec 17 which is included in other expenditure as compared to forex gain of Rs 9.5 crore for 12 months ended Dec 16 which is included in other income.

Depreciation was down by 14% to Rs 46.64 crore and thus, PBT stood at Rs 433.61 crore down by 1%. After providing total tax of Rs 129.18 crore, down by 10%, consolidated PAT for 12 months ended Dec 17 of the company stood at Rs 304.43 crore, which was up by 3% on YoY basis.

During 2017, the company paid three interim dividends amounting to Rs 18 per equity share of face value of Re 1 each. The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs 10 per share. The total dividend for the year works out to Rs 28 per share.