Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003 |
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Corporate
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Credit Rating Crisil rating upgrades exceed downgrades Our Bureau
Mumbai , Oct. 6 CRISIL Ltd has reported that upgrades of corporate ratings were four times as many as the number of downgrades during the first half of fiscal 2003-04. According to the agency's ratings roundup for the six months ended September 30, 2003, the improved performance reflected the strengthening fundamentals of Crisil-rated companies. It added that the improvement in the Indian economy was set to continue. Crisil's credit quality ratings have, over the years, been lead indicators of key economic parameters. The report, quoting Ms Roopa Kudva, Executive Director and Chief Rating Officer, Crisil, said: "For the first time in five years, upgrades exceeded downgrades across the manufacturing, finance and infrastructure sectors. With steadily improving capacity utilisation across all parts of the industrial economy and a good monsoon under our belt, it is hard not to be positive about economic prospects." Further, the Head of Rating Criteria and Product Development, Mr Ajay Dwivedi, said: "The last six months saw the lowest number of downgrades in the last eight years." During the period April-September 2003, the number of upgrades in Crisil's long-term ratings portfolio accelerated to eight (from 14 in the whole of the previous fiscal), while the number of downgrades fell sharply to two from 19. The key features of the upgrades included the upgrade of Arvind Mill Ltd (`BB' from `D') and Steel Authority of India Ltd (`BBB' from `BB') from speculative to investment grade, and the upgrades of Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd and Gujurat Gas Company Ltd to `AAA' from `AA+'. With the soft interest rates regime seen persisting for the short to medium term, and with inflation at bay, the rating agency is optimistic about economic performance over the next 12-18 months.
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