ICRA Ltd: Moody’s Child, SEBI’s Whipping Boy, and Still India’s Report Card Factory
1. At a Glance
ICRA Ltd, the grand examiner of Indian corporates, spends its time slapping credit grades like an unforgiving professor—yet ironically got a rap from SEBI itself for messing up IL&FS ratings. Classic “doctor caught smoking” moment. Still, with Moody’s holding the steering wheel, ICRA continues to cash in on everyone else’s debt drama, posting ₹508 Cr revenue and ₹177 Cr profit in FY25.
2. Introduction
If Bollywood ever made a movie on rating agencies, it’d be called “Kabhi AAA, Kabhi D”. And ICRA would be the strict teacher handing out report cards to India’s corporates.
Born in 1991, when India’s liberalization wave was still wearing its training pants, ICRA quickly became one of the country’s most important financial referees. Today, banks, NBFCs, and even PSUs line up to get that golden seal of approval (or the dreaded downgrade).
But here’s the paradox—ICRA, while rating the credibility of others, had its own credibility issues when SEBI slapped it with penalties for IL&FS rating lapses. It’s like catching your CA fudging his own tax returns.
Yet, the business is gold. Ratings are mandatory for debt markets, and research subscriptions bring recurring cash like EMI payments. Knowledge services and global outsourcing arms act as side hustles, while Moody’s ensures global credibility.
And yes, the brand has survived CEO controversies, arbitration battles, and governance questions—because at the end of the day, India needs a referee, and referees always get paid.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Think of ICRA as the school teacher of the Indian capital markets:
Rating Services (59% revenue): Grades your debt papers. AAA means “Sharma Ji ka beta,” D means “arre ye toh gaya.”
Knowledge Services (34% revenue): Outsourced research for global clients—basically homework copy-paste for foreigners who pay in dollars.
Market Services (5%): Index services, benchmarking, and data—because everyone loves to charge for Excel sheets.
Consulting (2%): Advisory here and there, mostly for regulators who need a ppt.
Geography: ~64% domestic revenue, ~36% international—so partly India, partly dollar dreams.
Oh, and they also run rating outfits in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Because why stop at scaring Indian corporates when you can frighten your neighbours too?
4. Financials Overview
Q1 FY26 Results Snapshot (₹ Cr):
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Q1 FY26)
YoY Qtr (Q1 FY25)
Prev Qtr (Q4 FY25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue
124.5
114.8
136.0
8.4%
-8.5%
EBITDA
44.7
40.1
58.9
11.5%
-24.1%
PAT
42.4
35.5
56.1
19.5%
-24.4%
EPS (₹)
43.97
36.80
57.75
19.5%
-23.9%
Commentary: ICRA pulled off a nice YoY jump (19% PAT growth), but QoQ looks like someone cut their bonus cheque in half. Blame seasonality? Or maybe Moody’s said “no more biryani, eat dal.”
5. Valuation – Fair Value Range Only
Let’s play valuation auditor:
P/E Method: EPS (₹183). Industry PE ~34. Fair value range: 30x–35x EPS = ₹5,490 – ₹6,405.
