Rating Rationale
August 11, 2020 | Mumbai
ICICI Securities Limited
Rated amount enhanced 
 
Rating Action
Rs.50 Crore Non Convertible Debentures CRISIL AAA/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Rs.3500 Crore Commercial Paper (Enhanced from Rs.2500 Crore] CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its ratings on the existing debt instruments of ICICI Securities Limited (I-Sec) at 'CRISIL AAA/Stable/CRISIL A1+'.  The ratings continue to reflect the company's majority ownership by, and strategic importance to, ICICI Bank, strong market position in the retail broking segment, and robust risk management systems. These strengths are partially offset by uncertainties inherent in capital market-related businesses.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the rating, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of ICICI Securities Ltd and its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as I-Sec. This is because these entities have significant operational and management linkages and operate under a common brand. CRISIL has also factored in the strong support from the parent, ICICI Bank, given the strategic importance of the entity to the parent along with the shared brand name. ICICI Bank is the majority shareholder of I-Sec, with a shareholding of 79.22% as on June 30, 2020.

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:
* Strategic importance to and majority ownership by, ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank holds 79.22% stake in I-Sec, post the IPO in March 2018. Institutional and retail broking is a key activity for the ICICI group, and I-Sec not only enables the group to provide the entire range of products related to capital markets, but also enhances diversification of the group's revenue profile. I-Sec distributes many financial market products, including insurance, mutual funds etc, for the ICICI group. ICICI Bank have infused capital aggregating Rs 100 crore into I-Sec in the past years.
 
* Strong market position in the retail broking segment
ICICI Bank, along with its group companies, has a strong presence in all major financial segments, including retail broking. I-Sec is a strong player in the retail equity broking business, with market leadership in online retail broking. I-Sec also has a strong presence in distribution of financial products (mutual funds, insurance etc) and it is second largest distributor of mutual funds among non-banks. It is among the top players in investment banking space, and specialises in issue management. CRISIL believes that I-Sec will maintain its leading position in the equity-broking segment over the medium term on the back of its strong reach, sound research capabilities, and comprehensive and sophisticated internet-based trading platform. 
 
* Robust risk management systems  
Risk management and monitoring systems are adequate to mitigate risks arising from uncertainties inherent in the retail-broking business. I-Sec follows the three-in-one model for its online retail broking, wherein the client's ICICI Bank, dematerialisation, and icicidirect.com trading accounts are all interlinked.
 
On the investment banking side, I-Sec follows a sound system for selection and execution of underwriting mandates. Other aspects of the risk management framework for margin financing include maximum exposure limits per client, stock-wise exposure limits for each client, and stock and sector exposure limits across the company as a whole. The company has also clearly defined limits for undertaking proprietary trading. 
 
Weakness:
* Uncertainties inherent in capital market-related businesses
The equity broking business is cyclical in nature; brokerage volumes and earnings are highly dependent on the level of trading activity in the capital market. I-Sec reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 542 crore in fiscal 2020 (Rs 193 crore for quarter ended June 30, 2020), as compared to Rs 491 crore in fiscal 2019.  However, the proportion of non-broking revenues (around 45% of the revenues in fiscal 2020), especially the distribution income has been growing over the years which is less volatile than broking revenues.
Liquidity Superior

I-Sec's liquidity position is comfortable due to agency nature of its business and healthy liquidity cushion in form of cash and bank balance of Rs 189 crore, liquid investments of Rs 152 crore, fixed deposits (un-liened) of Rs 434 crore and unutilised bank lines of Rs 622 crore as on July 31, 2020. Apart from this, I-Sec has healthy inflow from its other assets which can be liquidated and realized at short notice. The borrowing as on the same date was Rs 2485 crore, in the form of commercial paper. I-Sec also benefits from the support from ICICI Bank.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes I-Sec will maintain a strong market position in the retail broking and investment banking segments, and remain strategically important to ICICI Bank.
 
Rating Sensitivity Factors
Downward Factor
* Downward change in the credit risk profile of ICICI Bank by 1 notch could have a similar rating change on I-Sec
* Any material change in the shareholding or support philosophy of ICICI Bank impacting the quantum and timing of support.

About the Company

I-Sec, a majority owned subsidiary of ICICI Bank, offers broking services to institutional and retail clients in the cash equity and derivatives markets. Apart from strong online presence, it has well spread out distribution network of 171 branches across 70+ cities. I-Sec also distributes public issues to corporates and high-net-worth individuals, and has a strong presence in investment banking. It has a large client base (around 49 lakh customers as on June 30, 2020) in the online retail broking segment. It is also growing its wealth management business. I-Sec distributes many financial market products, including insurance, mutual funds, insurance, digital loans, etc, for the ICICI group. In addition, I-Sec also distributes mutual fund products of other players in the market.
 
For fiscal 2020, I-Sec reported a PAT of Rs 542 crore on a total income of Rs 1725 crore, against a PAT of Rs 491 crore on a total income of Rs 1727 crore for the previous fiscal. For the quarter ended June 30, 2020, I-Sec reported a PAT of Rs 193 crore on a total income of Rs 546 crore, against a PAT of Rs 114 crore on a total income of Rs 402 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators
As on/for the quarter ended June 30  Unit 2020 2019
Total Assets Rs crore 5,599 3171
Total income Rs crore 546 402
Profit after tax Rs crore 193 114
Gearing Times 1.4 0.6
Return on equity (annualized) % 59 41

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 Commercial Paper NA NA 7-365 days 3500 Simple CRISIL A1+
NA Non-Convertible Debentures* NA NA NA 50 NA CRISIL AAA/Stable
*Yet to be issued
 
Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated
Consolidated Extent of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
ICICI Securities Holdings, Inc Full Subsidiary
ICICI Securities, Inc Full Subsidiary
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
Commercial Paper  ST  3500.00  CRISIL A1+      09-12-19  CRISIL A1+  29-11-18  CRISIL A1+  07-11-17  CRISIL A1+  -- 
            29-11-19  CRISIL A1+      18-10-17  CRISIL A1+   
Non Convertible Debentures  LT  0.00
11-08-20 
CRISIL AAA/Stable      09-12-19  CRISIL AAA/Stable  29-11-18  CRISIL AAA/Stable  07-11-17  CRISIL AAA/Stable  CRISIL AAA/Stable 
            29-11-19  CRISIL AAA/Stable      18-10-17  CRISIL AAA/Stable   
                    04-05-17  CRISIL AAA/Stable   
Short Term Debt  ST                  04-05-17  CRISIL A1+  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
Criteria for Notching up Stand Alone Ratings of Companies based on Parent Support

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