Rating Rationale
January 23, 2017 | Mumbai

 

SME Pool - Series V - August 2016
(Originator: Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited)
'CRISIL A (SO)' Converted from Provisional Rating to Final Rating for Series A PTCs 
 
Rating Action
Name of the Trust Details Amount Rated
(Rs. Cr.)
Outstanding Amount Rated
(Rs. Cr.)
Original Tenure (Months)# Balance Tenure (Months)# Credit Collateral (Rs. Cr.)* Ratings/ Credit Opinion& Rating Action
SME Pool - Series V - August 2016 Series A PTCs 178.2 166.0 53 49 18.94 CRISIL A (SO) Converted from Provisional Rating to Final Rating
#Indicates door-to-door tenure between issuance date and legal final maturity date. Actual tenure will depend on level of prepayment in pool, exercise of clean-up call option, and extent of shortfall.
&Series A PTC holders are entitled to receive timely interest and principal on a monthly basis.
*Series A PTCs also derive credit support of Rs.58.12 crores in the form of scheduled cash flow subordination (assuming zero prepayment).
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has converted the provisional rating assigned on Series A PTCs to final rating of 'CRISIL A (SO)'. CRISIL had assigned its Provisional 'CRISIL A (SO)' rating to the Series A pass-through certificates (PTCs) on September 8, 2016, issued by SME Pool - Series V - August 2016, a trust settled by Catalyst Trusteeship Services Limited (erstwhile GDA Trusteeship Limited). The PTCs are backed by secured business loans originated by Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited (ESFB; rated 'CRISIL A/Stable'). CRISIL has received the final legal documents executed for the transaction. The executed documents are in line with the transaction terms at the time of provisional rating. Hence, CRISIL has converted the provisional rating to final rating.
 
Please click on the link below for detailed information on CRISIL's policy on provisional rating: Revision in CRISIL policy for assigning 'provisional' ratings.
 
As required, CRISIL has received the following final legal documents:

  • Auditor's Certificate
  • Legal Opinion
  • Reps & Warranties from the Seller/Originator
  • Letter from Trustee
  • Information Memorandum
  • Deed of Assignment
  • Trust Deed
  • Power of Attorney
  • Credit Collateral Guarantee  

Key rating drivers and description:
 
Supporting Factors

  • Credit Support available in the structure: Credit collateral of Rs 18.94 crores (9.3% of the future investor payouts) provides credit support to Series A PTCs. The PTCs also benefit from scheduled cashflow subordination aggregating Rs 58.12 crores (24.3% of future investor payouts).

  • Good collection performance of the pool: As after December 2016 payouts, four months post securitisation the collection efficiency stands at 99.5 per cent at a pool amortisation level of around 6.8 per cent

Constraining Factors

  • High geographic concentration: Around 80.5% of pool principal emanates from the state of Tamil Nadu making the pool more susceptible to any state specific issues.

  • Limited track record of the originator for this asset class along with weak credit profile: The pool is backed by secured business loan receivables which is a relatively new asset class category for ESFB. ESFB has not yet seen a full economic cycle for this asset-class in its portfolio. A majority of ESFB's secured business loan portfolio represents cross-sales to eligible higher income microfinance borrowers. The borrower segment has an inherently weaker credit profile.

About the pool
The pool cash flow being securitised comprises receivables from secured business loans originated by ESFB. All the loans are secured by property. At the time of securitisation, the pool had a weighted average net seasoning of 9.8 months, with the top state (Tamil Nadu) accounting for 80.5 percent of the pool principal. Average ticket size of the pool was around Rs.0.2 million.
 
About the Originator
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted final small finance bank license to Equitas group on June 30, 2016. As a part of this process, Equitas group had decided to merge Equitas Micro Finance Ltd & Equitas Housing Finance Ltd into Equitas Finance Limited (EFL), for which it received approval from RBI and National Housing Bank in January 2016. Subsequently, on June 6, 2016, the group received approval from the Madras High Court for the said amalgamation. The merger took effect on Sept 2, 2016 with the Registrar of Companies, Chennai, issuing a certificate of incorporation pursuant to a change of name to Equitas Small Finance Bank. On Sept 5, 2016, the group commenced operations as a Small Finance Bank.
 
EFL, set up in 2011, extended loans largely to small road transport operators and first-time users for the purchase of pre-owned CVs. EFL also provided loans to SMEs and LAP. It had 136 branches in 12 states and 2 union territories, with a portfolio of Rs.26.0 billion and net worth of Rs.7.1 billion, as on March 31, 2016.
 
EFL reported PAT of Rs.0.85 billion on total income of Rs.4.8 billion for 2015-16, vis-a-vis PAT and total income of Rs.0.34 billion and Rs.3.0 billion, respectively, for the previous year.  For the quarter ended June 30, 2016 the company reported PAT of Rs.275 million on a total income of Rs.1.5 billion.
 
Past Rated Pools
CRISIL has outstanding rating on 14 more transactions originated by ESFB. CRISIL is receiving monthly performance reports pertaining to all these transactions. The collection efficiency has been in line with CRISIL's expectations.

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments. The CRISIL complexity levels are available on www.crisil.com/complexity-levels. Users are advised to refer to the CRISIL complexity levels for instruments that they consider for investment. Users may also call the Customer Service Helpdesk with queries on specific instruments.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
Type of Instrument Rated Amount (Rs. Cr.) Date of Allotment  
 
Maturity date*
Coupon Rate (%) (Annualised) Outstanding
Rating$
Credit cum liquidity Enhancement (Rs. Cr.)&
Series A PTCs 178.19 30-Aug-16 13-Jan-21 10.2% CRISIL A (SO) 18.94
1 crore = 10 million
*Indicative maturity date
$Series A PTC holders are entitled to receive timely interest and principal on a monthly basis.
&As after December 2016 payouts, additional credit support includes Rs.49.3 crores in the form of scheduled cash flow subordination (assuming zero prepayment).
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2017 (History) 2016  2015  2014   
Instrument Type Quantum Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Beginning
Series A PTCs LT  178.19 CRISIL A (SO)   No Rating Change  18-09-16  Provisional CRISIL A (SO)   --    --  -- 
Links to related criteria
CRISILs rating methodology for ABS transactions
Evaluating risks in securitisation transactions - A primer
Legal analysis in structured finance transactions

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