The consolidated net profit of the company has declined marginally 5% to Rs 83.52 crore in the quarter ended March 2021, due to dip in other income on account of foreign exchange loss for the quarter ended March 2021 of Rs 4.7 crore compared with a gain of Rs 16.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Rating service business revenues which constitute around 30% of total revenue improved 12% yoy basis at Rs 148.93 crore, while research services revenues which forms around 63% of total revenue increased 18% to Rs 312.24 crore. Advisory service business revenues (7% of revenues) moved up 13% to Rs 34.03 crore.

OPM has eased by 127 bps to 25.7%. The operating profit moved up 10% to Rs 127.50 crore. The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin improved to 47% as compared to 43% for March 2020 quarter and PBIDT thus surged 22% to Rs 70.32 crore. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 53.20 crore down by 4%, with margins easing to 17% as compared to 21% yoy. Advisory service segment reported an improved segmental PBIDT of Rs 2.60 crore as compared to PBIDT of Rs 0.72 crore for March 2020 quarter.

Other income declined 56% to Rs 13.45 crore for March 2021 quarter. Depreciation rose 8% to Rs 27.83 crore and interest expenses zoomed declined 21% to Rs 2.62 crore. PBT stood at Rs 110.50 crore, down 5%. After providing total tax of Rs 26.98 crore, lower by 6% on yoy basis, consolidated PAT for March 2021 quarter of the company eased 5% to Rs 83.52 crore.

The results for the quarter include full quarter financials of Greenwich Associates LLC, acquired in February 2020, as against one month's numbers considered in the same quarter of the previous year. The results attributable to GA includes a revenue of Rs 39.81 crore and post-tax loss of Rs 7.87 crore for the quarter ended March 2021 compared with a revenue of Rs 9.72 crore and post-tax loss of Rs 10.02 crore for the quarter ended March 2020.

The Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 7 per share (of Re 1 face value) in the current quarter for the financial year ended December 2021, compared with Rs 6 per share interim dividend declared during the quarter ended March 2020.

Says Ashu Suyash, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL, "During the quarter, we saw good business momentum across Ratings, Research and Analytics. Buoyant capital markets and new client acquisitions aided growth. Ongoing demand for traded and credit-risk offerings also helped. We continue to make investments in data and technology capabilities, and in ensuring that our people are able to navigate well through the pandemic and serve clients."

Other updates

The first quarter of 2021 started with positive developments on vaccination roll-outs in a number of countries, including India. Domestically, recovery in economic activity remained uneven as manufacturing related sectors saw a relatively faster pick-up than services. However, there are concerns as Covid-19cases have started to rise at a rapid pace. Banking credit growth is expected to be lower at 5% as of March 2021 on a y-on-y basis as against a 6% growth a year back. Credit to micro, small and medium enterprises, and agriculture saw an uptick. Corporate credit, which forms nearly half of overall bank credit, did not see any growth as companies put capital expenditure on the backburner. Issuers tapping the debt capital market witnessed a decline of 41% and issuances in terms of quantum also saw a decrease of18% in the first quarter on a y-o-y basis.

Against this backdrop, CRISIL Ratings saw a 6.2% revenue uptick, driven by strong surveillance fees and new client adds. Global Analytical Center grew by deepening coverage across practices, stepped up support for ESG offerings, and automation initiatives. Overall, the Ratings segment revenue grew 11.8%and profit 22.1% on-year.

India Research saw increased demand for data, research and analytics underpinned by uptick in capital market and industrial activity. In addition, new products such as alternative investment fund benchmarks and wealth tracker supported performance. Global Research and Risk Solutions growth was driven by existing and new mandates across transformation, change and regulatory offerings. The buy-side continued to have greater need for research from alternative asset managers in areas such as distressed and private debt. Performance of the corporate and investment banking industry continued to normalize, but higher costs, increased capital requirement and continued low margins impacted spends. Nonetheless, the Coalition Greenwich saw client wins in the US, Asia-Pacific and Europe during the quarter. Growth during the quarter was driven by Greenwich, which saw good traction for its voice-of-client analytics. The overall Research segment posted a healthy revenue growth of 18.1% during the quarter. However, adverse foreign exchange movement impacted segment margins.

The Advisory segment saw increased demand across government- and multilateral-supported programs in the infrastructure space as well as for its credit management and risk-monitoring solutions. This contributed to overall segment growth.

Consolidated Performance – for year ended December 2020

Consolidated income from operations increased 14% to Rs 1981.83 crore for the year ended December 2020, compared with Rs 1731.72 crore in the previous year. Consolidated total income was Rs 2076.34 crore, compared with Rs 1814.54 crore in the previous year. Profit after tax rose 3% to Rs 354.73 crore, compared with Rs 343.95 crore in the previous year.

The revenues of Rating service business which constitute around 29% of total revenue were up by 4% on yoy to Rs 565.04 crore, while Research services revenues which form around 65% of total revenue, moved up 23% yoy to Rs 1282.71 crore. Advisory services revenues were down by 6% to Rs 134.08 crore.

OPM however was lower by 55 bps to 25.2% which resulted in 12% growth in the OP to Rs 499.28 crore.

The Rating service business segmental PBIDT margin was flat at 40% for year ended December 2020 and PBIDT rose 3% to Rs 226.72 crore. Research segment PBIDT stood at Rs 209.01 crore, down by 11% on yoy basis, with margins declining to 16% from 22%. Advisory service segment reported a segmental profit at PBIDT of Rs 10.07 crore with PBIDT margin at 8%.

Other income increased 14% to Rs 94.51 crore. Interest cost moved up to Rs 14.39 crore and depreciation zoomed to Rs 121.11 crore. PBT declined 7% to Rs 458.29 crore. After providing total tax of Rs 103.56 crore, down by 30%, consolidated PAT for the year ended December 2020 of the company rose 3% to Rs 354.73 crore.