Highlights for quarter ended March 31, 2022:

• Income from operations for the quarter up 20.1%
  
• Profit after tax for the quarter up 45.6%
  
• Interim dividend of Rs 7 per share recommended
  

The Board of Directors of CRISIL Ltd, at its meeting today, approved the unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

CRISIL’s consolidated income from operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, rose 20.1% to Rs 594.9 crore, compared with Rs 495.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit after tax for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, rose 45.6% to Rs 121.6 crore, compared with Rs 83.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 7 per share (of Re 1 face value) in the current quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared with Rs 7 per share interim dividend declared during the same quarter last year.

Says Amish Mehta, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL, "Rising geopolitical tensions have not only exacerbated existing inflationary pressures, but also added downside risks to a slowing world economy. This has forced central banks to accelerate monetary tightening and has raised the spectre of tighter financial conditions. During the March quarter, we saw growth across our business. We continue to drive growth for our core offerings and in data analytics, risk transformation and sustainability. We are ramping up investments in talent and technology to enhance our future-readiness."

The first quarter of 2022 was marked by the highly transmissible third Covid-19 wave, leading to a temporary disruption of economic activities. The inflationary trends, rising interest rates in the developed economies, and geopolitical situation, has introduced additional volatility and impacted investor appetite in the global markets.

In India, corporate bond issuances declined 15% by value and 22% by quantum in Q1 2022 year-on-year. Bank credit growth to the large corporate segment was muted.

Despite this challenging scenario, CRISIL Ratings’ revenue grew 13.4% in Q1 2022. The business continues to strengthen its leading position in the corporate bond market, driven by investor preference for best-in-class ratings, and added new clients during the quarter.

Global Analytical Centre (GAC) sustained its analytical surveillance support coverage across all practices and continued to drive the data and technology transformation agenda of S&P Global Ratings Services. Overall, the Ratings segment revenue grew 9.7% in Q1 2022.

In the Research segment, Global Research and Risk Solutions (GR&RS) added new logos across verticals in the US and Europe. The business continues to focus on research, risk, regulatory support, and transformation. 

The Global Benchmarking Analytics (GBA) business saw healthy growth in the first quarter on the back of new logo additions and increased engagements with key clients in the corporate, commercial, and investment banking space. 

India Research business witnessed growth in the quarter, driven by increased traction for fixed-income research, data solutions, and industry research.

In the current quarter, the Research segment revenues grew by 26.3%.

Infrastructure Advisory won mandates with multilaterals and corporates. Business Intelligence and Risk Services (BIRS) deepened its wallet share with domestic banking clients and saw good traction for its credit risk solutions. The segment grew its revenues by 9.8% in Q1 2022.

We enhanced digital and cloud quotient and strengthened our information security capabilities.

CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics hosted the sixth edition of the India Outlook Seminar 2022 titled, ‘The recovery contours’, and the first edition of Investment Connect webinar series titled ‘Beyond Budget 2022’. CRISIL Ratings hosted webinars on macroeconomy, airports, natural gas, and specialty chemicals. GBA launched the inaugural Greenwich Awards in Japan for institutional investment management services and released reports on topical themes such as portfolio trading, Blockchain-transferred funds, and sustainability.

CRISIL Foundation celebrated its ninth anniversary, with webinars and employee engagement activities. Its efforts to increase financial literacy and women empowerment continue.