Domestic rating agency Crisil, though has said that the credit quality of Indian firms improved in the second half of the year ended 31 March as mid-sized companies improved their business profiles and maintained profitability and also that the credit quality improvement will continue to be gradual in FY 2016 as well, but underlined that large companies are a cause of worry.
The agency in its report said that there is significant improvement in the credit quality of mid-sized firms with operating revenues of between Rs 100-500 crore but the recovery in credit quality as a whole remained slow and a “pervasive” improvement is still “elusive” because the ability of firms to repay debt is not rising rapidly. The large companies need to deleverage balance-sheets stretched by loans for an improvement in the overall NPA situation of banks, which is around 12 per cent of the system now.
There were 816 upgrades in the final six months of the past fiscal compared to 466 downgrades. The credit ratio of all firms improved marginally to 1.75 in the second half from 1.64 in the first half. A ratio above 1 indicates that there were more upgrades that downgrades.
In its report Crisil said that mid-sized firms look better placed with many of them having improved business profiles and maintaining profitability. They managed working capital better than smaller firms because of greater bargaining power. However, the heavy burden of debt will continue to constrain the ability of large firms to improve their credit profiles.
Start Research-backed Investing ...Now. Subscribe to Sapphire
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: