Rating agency Crisil reported a consolidated profit of Rs 145.8 crore in the first quarter of FY23, up 19.8 percent from the year-ago period but the net profit and operating margins saw some contraction, the company said on April 18.
The net profit margin for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 came in at 20.38 percent, down six basis points (bps) from 20.44 percent in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Crisil follows January-December financial year.
Consolidated revenue from operations increased by 20.2 percent on-year to Rs 714.9 crore for March 2023 quarter driven by growth in both rating services as well as research, analytics and solutions businesses, the analytics company said.
"We saw growth across our businesses stemming from demand for insights and analytics, amid macro and global market uncertainties," Managing Director & CEO Amish Mehta said.
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Flanks of caution are building up because of the imminent slowdown in developed economies and the lagged effect of past repo rate hikes was expected to manifest through domestic demand in the months ahead, he said.
Crisil recorded 16 percent year-on-year growth in its rating services segment at Rs 186.5 crore, while its research, analytics and solutions business grew by 21.7 percent to Rs 528.4 crore during the period.
On the operating front, the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 15.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 203.5 crore in the March quarter but the margin dropped 116 bps YoY to 28.46 percent in the same quarter, impacted by higher employee cost (up 22.8 percent YoY).
The quarter saw an appreciation in the Indian rupee and the British pound versus the dollar, resulting in an adverse foreign exchange impact, compared with foreign exchange gain in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the company said its exchange filing.
The company's board approved payment of an interim dividend of Rs 7 per share, having a face value of Re 1 each, for the financial year ending December 2023. The dividend will be paid on May 16.
The board has appointed Girish Ganesan as an Additional Director of the company with effect from April 19, subject to shareholders' approval. The board also approved the appointment of Ewout Steenbergen as the chairman of the company.
At 3.07 pm, the stock, however, was trading 4 percent down at Rs 3,384.5, probably weighed down by weak operating margin performance.