Highlights for the financial year ended December 31, 2018

• Total income up 11.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter; profit after tax up 19.0% year-on-year
  
• Fiscal 2018 total income up 8.8% year-on-year; profit after tax up 19.3%
• Declared final dividend of Rs 11 per share. Total Dividend of Rs 30 per share for the year

The Board of Directors of CRISIL Ltd, at its meeting today, approved the audited financial results for quarter and year ended December 31, 2018.

CRISIL’s consolidated income from operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, rose 5.9% to Rs 467.0 crores, compared with Rs 440.9 crores in the corresponding quarter of previous year. Consolidated total income for the quarter was up 11.5% to Rs 496.5 crores, compared with Rs 445.3 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit after tax grew by 19.0% to Rs 113.8 crores, compared with Rs 95.6 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. During the quarter, the company received export benefits amounting to Rs 24.9 crores in the form of duty-free saleable scrips under the Service Export Incentive Scheme which has been recorded under other income.

Consolidated income from operations for the year ended December 31, 2018, increased 5.4% to Rs 1,748.5 crores, compared with Rs 1,658.5 crores in the previous year. Consolidated total income was up 8.8% to Rs 1,831.7 crores, compared with Rs 1,684.1 crores in the previous year. Profit after tax rose 19.3% to Rs 363.1 crores, compared with Rs 304.4 crores in the previous year.

During 2018, the company paid three interim dividends totaling Rs 19 per equity share of face value of Re 1 each. The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs 11 per share (of Re 1 face value). The total dividend for the year works out to Rs 30 per share.

“Sharp analytics and insights, and independent opinions have helped CRISIL stay ahead in a choppy environment. New offerings and capabilities, including through the acquisition of Pragmatix, supported growth for both the domestic and global businesses,” said Ashu Suyash, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL. “In ratings, our pointed focus on analytical and surveillance quality, client engagement, differentiated positioning and excellence in ratings, along with productivity improvements, resulted in a healthy growth in revenue and margins.”

During the year, issuances in the corporate bond market dropped by around 24%. Yet the ratings business grew at a healthy pace on the back of improved market share through client acquisition. Additionally, securitisation transactions surged and there was robust traction in the stressed assets space as well. Revival in credit growth supported the mid-corporate ratings segment. The strong performance in ratings was however offset partially by muted SME and GAC segments.

India Research continued to grow driven by new client additions – including for the Quantix platform – and mandates stemming from capital market buoyancy and upturn in a few sectors. The GR&A business faced headwinds from maturing regulations in the US and Europe, especially MiFID II. CRISIL Coalition continued to grow strongly led by client demand for more insights and analytics. The business sharpened focus on products and platforms to take advantage of changing client needs.

In the Advisory segment, growth was led by Pragmatix, which was acquired in early 2018. Infrastructure Advisory won prestigious mandates from multilaterals and government entities. The segment’s results were impacted by an additional provision for receivables of Rs 16.84 crore.

Overall, better operational efficiencies and favorable forex helped improve margins by 160 bps in 2018.

We hosted the fifth edition of the Annual Bond Market Seminar, which saw excellent participation by top stakeholders across the industry. The unique feature of this year’s seminar was deliberations on the results of a survey of corporate bond investors and issuers. The seminar provided a platform for regulators, bankers, fund managers and corporates to come together and discuss the way forward and the initiatives for the growth of bond markets.

Other flagship events such as India Outlook, NBFC Seminar and Infrastructure Conclave also saw great participation. Apart from several successful events in India, we continued to strengthen our thought leadership in the global marketplace by participating in seminars such as ‘Monitoring credit risk and research portfolios as the credit cycle changes’, and ‘The convergence of analytics and operations in AML with Machine Learning’, among others. We also published a number of white papers and thought leadership reports and articles on the ongoing digital revolution, Brexit, Blockchain, securitisation, economy, sectoral outlooks and credit risk.

CRISIL Foundation continues to propel Mein Pragati, our flagship program, and efforts towards environment conservation. A tree health audit completed in 2018 showed Team CRISIL has helped plant and grow nearly 17,000 trees since 2015, which will offset over 3,900 metric tonne of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 15 years. In 2018, the foundation, under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India’s Moneywise Centres for Financial Literacy, achieved a major landmark by reaching out to over 100,000 people.