1. At a Glance – The Professor of Finance Who Charges Premium Fees
If Indian finance had a “Head Boy,” it would be CRISIL Ltd. Market cap of ₹33,356 crore. Stock price ₹4,565. P/E of 43.6. ROCE at 34.6%. ROE at 27.4%. Debt-to-equity a calm 0.10. Dividend yield 0.55%.
Q4 FY25 numbers? Revenue ₹1,082 crore. PAT ₹242 crore. EPS ₹33.02. OPM at 31%.
FY25 full-year revenue ₹3,649 crore. PAT ₹766 crore.
Three-month return? A flat 0.12%. Six months? -13.5%. One-year? -5.76%.
So the stock isn’t exactly doing bhangra, but the business? Rock solid.
You’re paying 11 times book value. That’s not cheap. That’s “I want premium consulting” pricing.
The real question is — are you buying earnings growth, or just buying the brand name of India’s rating king?
Let’s dissect.
2. Introduction – When Risk Has a Business Model
CRISIL is not just a company. It’s the guy who grades your homework — except the homework is corporate bonds worth thousands of crores.
Founded as India’s first credit rating agency, today it’s a globally diversified analytics machine. Ratings. Research. Risk solutions. Advisory. Data intelligence.
And oh yes — it’s majority owned (67%) by S&P Global Inc.
That’s like having Wall Street as your chacha.
But here’s the twist.
Only 28% of revenue comes from Ratings.
Yet that segment contributes 51% of total profits.
Translation?
Ratings = high-margin cash cow.
Research & analytics = scale machine.
They’ve separated CRISIL Ratings into a wholly owned subsidiary because SEBI said, “Structure it properly.” Corporate governance tick mark.
Global presence in 12+ countries. 4,700+ employees. 41% revenue from North America. India 28%. Europe 23%. Rest 8%.
So this is not just an “Indian” story. It’s an analytics export story.
But are the numbers supporting the premium valuation? Or is it just reputation carrying weight?
Let’s open the books.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Imagine three verticals:
1️ Ratings (28% revenue)
They rate companies and bonds. 35,000+ entities rated. This is the most profitable segment.
Banks need them. NBFCs need them. Corporates need them.
And when the economy grows, debt grows. When debt grows, ratings grow.
Simple math.
2️ Research & Analytics (65% revenue)
This is the global muscle.
Four sub-areas:
