Rating Rationale
December 04, 2024 | Mumbai
 
Witcher Trust 09 2024
(Originator: Muthoot Microfin Limited)
‘CRISIL AA (SO)’ for Series A1 PTCs converted from provisional rating to final rating
 
Rating Action
Tranche Name Amount Rated
(Rs.Crore)
Outstanding Amount
(Rs.Crore)
Balance
Tenure
Credit Collateral 
(Rs.Crore)
Ratings/Credit Opinions Rating
Action
Series A1 PTCs 140.03 140.03 20 8.02 CRISIL AA (SO) Converted from Provisional Rating to Final Rating
Note: None of the Directors on CRISIL Ratings Limited’s Board are members of rating committee and thus do not participate in discussion or assignment of any ratings. The Board of Directors also does not discuss any ratings at its meetings.
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities

 

Detailed Rationale

CRISIL Ratings has converted the provisional rating assigned to Series A1 Pass-Through Certificates (“PTCs”) issued by WITCHER TRUST 09 2024to a final rating of CRISIL AA (SO). The PTCs were issued under a securitisation transaction originated by Muthoot Microfin Limited (MML; rated ‘CRISIL A+/Stable’).

 

This transaction is backed by a pool comprising microfinance loan receivables originated by MML. The ratings are based on credit quality of the pool cash flow, origination, and servicing capabilities of MML, credit support available to the PTCs, payment mechanism for the transaction, and soundness of the transaction’s legal structure.

 

CRISIL Ratings has now received the final legal/executed documents for this transaction. These executed documents are in line with terms of the transaction envisaged when provisional rating was assigned. Hence, CRISIL Ratings has converted the provisional rating to a final rating.

 

Legal Documents

  • Declaration of Trust
  • Deed of assignment of receivables in the process of securitisation
  • Power of attorney

 

Other Documents

  • Information Memorandum
  • Term Sheet
  • Auditor’s Certificate
  • Legal Opinion
  • Originator’s Representations and Warranties Letter
  • Trustee Awareness Letter

 

The transaction has a ‘Par with Excess Interest Spread (EIS)’ structure. MML has assigned the loan pool to ‘Witcher Trust 09 2024, a trust settled by Catalyst Trusteeship Limited, which has issued instruments to investors in exchange for a purchase consideration equal to 87.30% of future pool principal outstanding as on the cut-off date (September 04, 2024).

 

Series A1 PTC holders are promised timely interest on a monthly basis and principal on ultimate basis on the maturity date of the PTCs. Investor payouts for PTCs are supported by cash collateral, overcollateralisation and subordination of excess interest spread (EIS).

 

Total credit support available in the transaction structure is as below:

 

  • Internal credit enhancement from scheduled cashflow subordination (assuming zero prepayments) aggregating to Rs 41.21 crore (25.7% of pool principal) which includes Rs 20.37 crore of principal overcollateralization (12.70% of initial pool principal) and Rs 20.84 crore of EIS (13.0% of initial pool principal) for Series A1 PTCs.   
  • External cash collateral in the structure amounting to Rs 8.02 crore (5.0% of initial pool principal) in the form of Fixed Deposit.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description

Strengths:

  • Credit support available in the structure

                     External cash collateral in the structure amounting to Rs 8.02 crore (5.0% of pool principal) and internal credit enhancement from scheduled cashflow subordination (assuming zero prepayments) amounting to Rs 41.21 crore (25.7% of pool principal) which includes Rs 20.37 crore of principal overcollateralization (12.70% of pool principal) and Rs 20.84 crore of excess interest spread (13.0% of pool principal) provide credit support to Series A1 PTCs.

 

  • Repayment track record contracts in the pool

                     The pool has a weighted average seasoning of 7.9 months and pre-securitisation amortisation of 29.2%.

                     All the 34,839 contracts in the underlying loan pool are current as of the cut-off date (September 04, 2024).

 

  • Structure of the transaction

                     The legal structure envisaged for the transaction entails bankruptcy remoteness of the receivables and credit enhancement from the originator, and adherence to prevailing regulations on securitisations.

                     These shall be certified through an independent legal opinion from an external legal counsel.

 

Weaknesses:

  • Vulnerability to socio-political risks

               The microfinance industry remains susceptible to risks arising out of socio-political issues and policy / regulatory changes. Such events can disrupt loan repayments of underlying borrowers.

                     There has been a dip in portfolio collections across states in recent months which has led to a rise in delinquency levels with 30+ dpd increasing from 5.3% in Jun-2023 to 6.0% in Jun-2024. Drop in collections is partly due to the impact of loan waiver schemes in certain states and operational challenges faced by the entity in some geographies which could have a bearing on the collection performance of loans in the underlying pool.

 

These aspects have been adequately factored in its rating analysis by CRISIL Ratings.

Liquidity: Strong

Liquidity is strong given that the credit enhancement available in the structure is sufficient to cover losses exceeding 1.5 times the currently estimated base shortfalls

Rating Sensitivity factors

Upward factor:

  • Credit enhancement available in the structure exceeding 2.3 times the estimated adjusted base shortfalls on the residual cash flows of the pool.

 

Downward factors:

  • Credit enhancement falling below 2.0 times the estimated adjusted base shortfalls
  • A sharp downgrade in the rating of the servicer/originator.
  • Non-adherence to the key transaction terms envisaged at the time of the rating.

About the Pool

The transaction is backed by microfinance receivables originated by MML. The key pool characteristics are outlined below:

  • The contracts in the pool have weighted average seasoning of 7.9 months, which has led to principal amortisation of 29.2% as of the pool cut-off date.
  • The pool is diversified in terms of geography with the top 3 state and top 3 districts accounting for 82.3% and 15.1% of the pool principal respectively.
  • The average ticket size for contracts in the pool is Rs 65,026, with a weighted average interest rate of 24.3%.
  • All the contracts in the underlying loan pool were current as of the cut-off date (September 04, 2024).

 

Rating assumptions

 

To assess the base case shortfalls for the transaction, CRISIL Ratings has analysed the delinquency profile of MML’s portfolio of microfinance loans from April 2018 to June 2024, along with static pool performance for microfinance loans originated from March 2015 onwards with performance up to June 2024.

 

CRISIL Ratings has also analysed the portfolio cuts based on various parameters and compared the pool with the portfolio on these parameters. Further, CRISIL Ratings has factored the delinquency performance of the microfinance industry in various geographies.

 

CRISIL Ratings has estimated base case shortfalls in the pool at 7.0%-9.0% of cash flows. Additionally, stresses on account of economic, political and concentration related factors have been applied to arrive at the adjusted base shortfalls for the pool. 

 

CRISIL Ratings has also factored the following assumptions, basis the typical industry characteristics of the asset class and its criteria for rating asset backed securitisations:

 

  • CRISIL Ratings has assumed a monthly prepayment of 0.5%-1.5% of initial pool principal
  • CRISIL Ratings does not envisage any risk arising on account of commingling of cash flows since its short-term rating on the servicer is ‘CRISIL A1+’
  • CRISIL Ratings has run sensitivities based on various shortfall curves (front-ended, back-ended and normal) and has adequately factored the same in its analysis.
  • CRISIL Ratings has adequately factored in the risks arising on account of counterparties (refer to Counterparty Details)

 

Counterparty details

Capacity

Counterparty

Rating

Effect on transaction rating in case of non-performance

Originator

MML

‘CRISIL A+/Stable’

No effect.

Servicer

MML

‘CRISIL A+/Stable’

Significant effect, because of change in servicing quality and replacement cost of servicer. However, currently CRISIL Ratings does not envisage the need for replacement. The trustee, on behalf of the investors, shall retain the right to nominate an alternate collection agent in case of a “Servicer Event of Default”, linked to insolvency of the servicer or breach of any transaction terms.

Collection and Payout Account Bank

The Federal Bank

'CRISIL AAA/Stable/CRISIL A1+'

Negligible effect. The trustee, on behalf of the investors, has the right to change the collection and payout account bank if needed.

Cash collateral bank

The Federal Bank

'CRISIL AAA/Stable/CRISIL A1+'

Negligible effect. The trustee, on behalf of the investors, has the right to change the bank with whom the cash collateral is maintained if needed.

Trustee

Catalyst Trusteeship Limited

Not rated by CRISIL Ratings

Negligible effect. The trustee can be replaced by the investor if needed.

 

Transaction waterfall mechanism

Series A1 PTC holders are promised timely interest on a monthly basis and principal on ultimate basis on the maturity date of the PTCs. The collections from the pool, including the internal subordination through overcollateral as well as EIS, will be used to make promised interest payouts to PTC holders, followed by expected principal payouts as per the scheduled monthly principal collections.

 

However, in case of a collection shortfall, while the cash collateral can be used to make the promised interest payouts, any shortfall in expected principal collections will be carried forward as arrears. The cash collateral can be utilised to meet any outstanding principal arrears on the maturity date of the PTCs.

 

Any prepayments will be utilised for accelerated redemption of PTCs.

 

The EIS would normally flow back to the originator after meeting the promised interest payouts and expected principal payouts to PTCs.

About the Originator
MML, a part of Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), provides microfinance loans to women. MPG started its microfinance operations in 2010 as a separate division of MFL, the flagship company of the group. In December 2011, the group acquired a Mumbai-based non-banking financial company (NBFC), Pancharatna Securities Ltd, and renamed it MML. In March 2015, MML received an NBFC-MFI licence from the RBI. As on March 31, 2024, MFL held 50.2% equity and MFL’s promoters held 5.3% in MML. Along with the promoters, MML’s board includes one member nominated by Creation Investments and Greater Pacific Capital and four independent directors.

MML had AUM of Rs 12,176 crore and networth of Rs 2,804 crore as on March 31, 2024. Operations of the microfinance division are spread across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.

Key Financial Indicators

Particulars

Unit

March 2024

March 2023

March 2022

March 2021

Total assets

Rs crore

11590

8529

5591

4185

Total income

Rs crore

2286

1446

843

696

Profit after tax

Rs crore

449.6

163.8

47.4

7

90+ dpd

%

4.2

5.1

6.8

8.0

Gearing

Times

3.0

4.0

3.0

3.4

Adjusted gearing

Times

3.9

5.2

4.5

5.1

Return on managed assets

%

3.6

1.8

0.7

0.1

Annualised

 

Performance of past rated pools

CRISIL Ratings has ratings outstanding on 16 other securitisation transactions originated by MML. The cumulative collection ratios in these pools range from 90.0% to 98.0% and 90+ delinquencies (including overdues) have been below 5.0% for all transactions as of August 2024 payouts.

Any other information: Not Applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL Ratings` 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.

CRISIL Ratings will disclose complexity level for all securities - including those that are yet to be placed - based on available information. The complexity level for instruments may be updated, where required, in the rating rationale published subsequent to the issuance of the instrument when details on such features are available.

For more details on the CRISIL Ratings` complexity levels please visit www.crisilratings.com. Users may also call the Customer Service Helpdesk with queries on specific instruments.

Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)

ISIN Type of Instrument Rated Amount (Rs.Cr) Date of Allotment Maturity
Date#
Coupon Rate (%) (p.a.p.m.) Complexity level Outstanding Rating Cash Collateral
(Rs.Cr)^
INE19W415016 Series A1 PTCs 140.03 18-Oct-24 18-Jun-26 8.75% Highly complex CRISIL AA (SO) 8.02

#Indicates door to door tenure. Actual tenure will depend on the level of prepayments in the pool, and exercise of the clean-up call option

^At the time of securitisation, additional credit support includes Rs 41.21 crore (assuming zero prepayments) in the form of scheduled cashflow subordination for Series A1 PTCs – including Rs 20.37 crore of principal overcollateralization.

Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2024 (History) 2023  2022  2021  Start of 2021
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Series A1 PTCs LT 140.03 CRISIL AA (SO) 04-10-24 Provisional CRISIL AA (SO)   --   --   -- --
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Criteria Details
Links to related criteria
CRISILs rating methodology for ABS transactions
Evaluating risks in securitisation transactions - A primer
Meaning and applicability of SO and CE symbol

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