Crisil Limited

Crisil Limited delivered strong financial results for both the full year 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. For FY25, revenues grew by 11.9% year-on-year, with Profit Before Tax (PBT) increasing by 12.4% and Profit After Tax (PAT) by 12.6%. This positive momentum accelerated in Q1 FY26, where revenues surged 30.1% year-on-year, PBT grew 35.7%, and PAT saw a robust increase of 45.9%. A significant foreign exchange gain of INR 14.4 crores in Q1 FY26, compared to a loss of INR 5.2 crores in the prior year, also contributed positively to profitability.

Crisil continues to expand its strategic and analytical footprint globally, notably adding Canada as a new geography and acquiring PriceMetrix in Q4 2025 to enhance wealth management capabilities. The company maintains its strong market position, serving over 11,400 clients across 40 countries. Crisil's commitment to its workforce is reflected in its recognition as a Great Place to Work for the sixth consecutive year and being named among India's best workplaces for women in 2025, alongside 26 other industry recognitions.

The company provided an outlook on the macroeconomic environment, projecting India's GDP to grow at 7.1% in FY27 under a base case, with a potential slowdown to 6.8% if the West Asia conflict prolongs. Inflation is expected to average 4.5% in FY27, possibly reaching 4.7%. Globally, growth is forecast to moderate to 3.2% in 2026, though the US economy is expected to remain resilient at 2.2%. Crisil anticipates bank credit growth of around 13% in FY27 and expects gross NPAs for banks to be maintained at 2-2.5% by March 2027.

The Research Analytics & Solutions (RAS) segment demonstrated strong growth, with income from operations increasing 34.9% year-on-year to INR 735.6 crores in Q1 FY26. Segment profit grew by 66.9% year-on-year, leading to margin expansion to 22.7% from 18.3% in Q1 FY25. This performance was driven by Crisil Coalition Greenwich, Crisil Integral IQ, and Crisil Intelligence, benefiting from robust markets and increased client engagement. However, approximately USD 4.5 million of Q1 FY26 revenue was attributed to accelerated renewals, a timing effect expected to normalize^📎 in subsequent quarters.

Crisil is actively embedding Gen-AI across its operations, viewing it as a key strategic lever to drive value and enhance competitiveness. The company's approach focuses on domain-led AI products like GenEye Credit and Crisil i360, horizontal AI capabilities via Myron AI, upskilling its workforce in AI, and adhering to responsible AI principles. Management emphasized that Gen-AI is an opportunity to improve efficiency, deliver deeper insights, and open new revenue streams, particularly in regulated financial services where trust and compliance are paramount.

The ratings services segment grew by 20.2% year-on-year in Q1 2026, primarily supported by robust surveillance revenue and new rating revenues, which were bolstered by strong performance in 2025 and 2024. However, bond issuances declined 12% year-on-year in Q1 2026, impacted by geopolitical uncertainties, hardened yields, and a shift towards bank loans due to favorable interest rate differentials. Crisil expects bank credit growth of around 13% in FY27 to support the segment, but acknowledges the ongoing geopolitical situation makes the bond market outlook uncertain.

Crisil continues to prioritize shareholder returns, declaring an interim dividend of INR 9 per share in Q1 FY26. The company actively pursues inorganic growth opportunities in both its operating and adjacent spaces to accelerate strategy, gain new capabilities, and access new client segments. Recent examples include the acquisition of PriceMetrix to expand in wealth management and taking a small stake in an Indian SME platform company. This strategy aims to diversify the customer portfolio and mitigate risks from potential discretionary spend delays.