Rating Rationale
November 23, 2020 | Mumbai
The Federal Bank Limited
Rating Reaffirmed 
 
Rating Action
Rs.12000 Crore Certificate of Deposits CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
Short Term Fixed Deposits CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL A1+' rating on the short-term debt programmes of The Federal Bank Limited (Federal Bank).
 
The rating continues to reflect the bank's comfortable capitalisation, healthy resource profile, and strong brand presence among non-resident Indians (NRIs). These strengths are partially offset by the bank's average asset quality and profitability, and relatively small scale of operations with geographic concentration in business.

The nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted disbursements and collections of financial institutions. The lockdown has been eased in a phased manner. Any delay in return to normalcy will put further pressure on the collections and asset quality metrics of financial institutions.

The bank has provided moratorium to its borrowers, in line with the relief measures provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As of late-August 2020, around 35% of its loan book, was under moratorium. Excluding the loans which are backed by liquid securities (such as gold), and the customers who have paid all the equated monthly installments (EMIs), around 24% of the book was under moratorium. Any change in the payment discipline of borrowers could affect the asset quality post moratorium. Also, while the one-time restructuring scheme announced by the RBI will provide the necessary support to affected borrowers in the current environment, the details and operational implementation of the scheme will have to be seen. The bank nevertheless, has made Covid-19 related provisions of Rs 588 crore as on September 30, 2020.

Analytical Approach

CRISIL has considered the consolidated business and financial risk profiles of the Federal Bank.

Please refer Annexure - List of entities consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Comfortable capitalisation
Capitalisation is comfortable and should remain stable over the medium term. The overall capital adequacy ratio (under Basel III) and networth was adequate at 15.2% and Rs 15,557 crore, respectively, as on September 30, 2020. Networth coverage for net non-performing assets (NPAs) was ~12.4 times.
 
* Healthy resource profile, with strong brand equity in Kerala
Resource profile is healthy with a strong brand presence among NRIs, especially in Kerala. Deposits from NRIs, accounted for 39.3% of the total deposits as on September 30, 2020, and the bank's market share in the inward remittances improved to 17% in fiscal 2020 from 16% in last fiscal. These factors lend stability to the bank's resource base and fee income, respectively. Moreover, current account and savings account (CASA) deposits accounted for 33.7% of total deposits as on September 30, 2020. Resource profile is quite granular with retail deposits contributing 93% of total deposits. Cost of deposit declined to 5.1% in the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to 5.9% in fiscal 2020, in-line with industry trend.
 
Weaknesses
*Average asset quality and profitability
Asset quality is average with gross NPA ratio of 2.8% as on September 30, 2020, and including the Rs 237 crore of slippage, which was not recognized due to standstill ruling by the Supreme Court. Bank is focusing on growing its retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) loan book and has strengthened its credit appraisal and risk management systems to improve its asset quality. Bank has adopted a conservative approach to grow its corporate book and has been lending to better rated corporates, over the past few years. Going ahead, ability to manage asset quality in SME and agriculture loan portfolios will remain a key rating sensitivity factor.

Return on assets was 0.8% for the half year ended September 30, 2020, and 0.9% in fiscal 2020 (0.9% in fiscal 2019). The bank currently has one-time Covid-19 related provision of Rs 588 crore, out of which provision of Rs 495 crore was made in the first half of fiscal 2021. The provision cover for NPAs was around 65% (excluding technical write-offs) as on September 30, 2020. Earning is likely to remain average over the medium term.
 
* Modest, albeit growing, scale of operations with regional concentration
Although the bank has grown its advances and deposits at a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.0% and 16.5% till fiscal 2020, respectively, its overall size remains modest. Advances grew at 7% y-o-y in the half year ended September 30, 2020, driven by growth in gold loans, retail loans, and business banking loans, while deposits grew 12% y-o-y. It had a market share of 1.19% and 1.09% in advances and deposits, respectively, as on September 30, 2020.

The bank's business continues to be concentrated in the southern parts of India, with 5 states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana) accounting for 75% of the deposits and 59% of advances as on September 30, 2020. Out of this, Kerala alone accounted for 65% and 34% of deposits and advances, respectively. The concentration risk is mitigated by the relatively better economic performance of this region. We note that the deposits in Kerala include NRI deposits which are diverse based on the location of the customers. Nonetheless, asset quality in the retail and SME portfolios in Kerala will continue to be monitored.
Liquidity Superior

Liquidity is superior supported by a healthy retail deposit base. Liquidity coverage ratio was 270.5% as on October 31, 2020, against the statutory minimum of 100%. Liquidity also benefits from access to systemic sources of funds, such as the liquidity adjustment facility from the RBI and access to the call money market.

Rating Sensitivity Factor
Downward Factors
* Deterioration in asset quality, with gross NPAs rising from current levels and credit cost crossing 1.0% on a continuous basis
* Significant reduction in profitability.

About the Bank

Federal Bank is a mid-sized, private sector bank, with deposits and advances of Rs 1,56,485 crore and Rs 1,25,903 crore, respectively, as on September 30, 2020. The bank has its head office in Aluva (Kerala). It has 1,271 branches and a strong NRI customer base in the Middle East. In fiscal 2020, profit after tax (PAT) was Rs 1,580 crore on total income (net of interest expenses) of Rs 6,794 crore, against Rs 1,316 crore and Rs 5,654 crore, respectively, the previous fiscal.
 
For the half year ended September 30, 2020, PAT was Rs 725 crore on total income (net of interest expenses) of Rs 3,831 crore, against Rs 800 crore and Rs 3,163 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators
As on/for the period ended March 31 Unit 2020 2019
Total assets Rs crore 183353 160552
Total income (net of interest expenses) Rs crore 6794 5654
Reported PAT Rs crore 1580 1316
Gross NPA % 2.8 2.9
Overall capital adequacy ratio % 14.6 14.4
Return on assets (Calculated) % 0.9 0.9

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments and are included (where applicable) in the Annexure -- Details of Instrument in this Rating Rationale. For more details on the CRISIL complexity levels, please visit www.crisil.com/complexity-levels.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of instrument Date of allotment Coupon rate (%) Maturity date Issue size (Rs.Crore) Complexity Level Rating assigned with outlook
NA Certificate of deposits NA NA 7-365 days 12,000 Simple CRISIL A1+
NA Short-term fixed deposit programme NA NA NA NA Simple CRISIL A1+
 
Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated
Entity consolidated Extent of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
Federal Operations and Services Ltd Full Subsidiary
Fedbank Financial Services Ltd Full Subsidiary
IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Ltd Proportionate Associate
Equirus Capital Pvt Ltd Proportionate Associate
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Certificate of Deposits  ST  12000.00  CRISIL A1+      05-12-19  CRISIL A1+  28-09-18  CRISIL A1+  29-09-17  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
            30-09-19  CRISIL A1+           
Short Term Fixed Deposits  ST  0.00  CRISIL A1+      05-12-19  CRISIL A1+  28-09-18  CRISIL A1+  29-09-17  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
            30-09-19  CRISIL A1+           
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Links to related criteria
Rating Criteria for Banks and Financial Institutions
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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