ICRA updgrades rating for India's largest capitalised NBFC - Finvest

• Upgrades long-term debt programme and  long-term bank loan programme from LA+ to LAA- with stable outlook
• Enhances the limit of  A1+ rated short term debt programme 
• RFL with enhanced limits can now raise 10,000 crores to fund its growth strategies

Religare Finvest Limited, one of India’s largest capitalized NBFC, a subsidiary of global financial services company Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) announced receipt of a rating upgrade for their long-term debt programme and long-term bank loan programme to LAA- from LA+. The rated amount for the long term debt programme and long term bank loan program has been enhanced to Rs 20 billion each (enhanced from Rs 10 billion each). The rating committee of ICRA, after due consideration of the latest developments within the company, upgraded the rating on the long term programmes to LAA- (pronounced as L double A minus).   

ICRA has also assigned an A1+ (pronounced as A one plus) rating to the enhanced Rs 60 billion (enhanced from Rs 50 billion) short-term debt programme of Religare Finvest Limited.

The rating upgrade reflects company’s ability to increase its business volumes backed by good lending norms, systems and processes resulting into controlled asset quality and good incremental profitability from its main segments.

Religare Finvest Limited can also buy out portfolios in the short to medium term, going forward.

Commenting on the rating, Mr. Kavi Arora, CEO, Religare Finvest Ltd said, "This rating upgrade reiterates our stand in the industry, it gives us an opportunity to raise around 10,000 crore from the market. As a strategy we have focused ourselves on commercially earning assets through three lines of business namely SME Loans, Loans against Property (LAP) and Loans on Commercial Assets (CA) business to strengthen our position as a diversified financial services player. We will continue to grow our existing line of business, both organically and inorganically.”

RFL has recently acquired part of Citi’s Home Equity Porfolio of around 500 crores.

About Religare Finvest Ltd – www.religarefinvest.com
Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), a 100% subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) and is the lending arm of REL.

RFL has adopted a strategy of lending on commercially earning assets through its three lines of business i.e. SME Loans, Loans against Property (LAP) and Loans on Commercial Assets (CA). It has recently added Leasing and Third party products which help augment the bouquet of products and strengthen the income-lines. The corporate advisory group of RFL also provides corporate, banking, and financial institutional sector solutions to SMEs looking to expand their business.

About Religare Enterprises Limited - www.religare.in  
Religare is a global financial services group with a presence across Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe and the Americas.  In India, Religare’s largest market, the group offers a wide array of products and services ranging from insurance, asset management, broking and lending solutions to investment banking and wealth management.  The group has also pioneered the concept of investments in alternative asset classes such as arts and films .With 10,000 plus employees across multiple geographies, Religare serves over a million clients, including corporates and institutions, high net worth families and individuals, and retail investors.