Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited Receives a Rating of 'CARE AA+; Stable' From CARE Ratings

MUMBAI, July 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited ('PCHFL') has been assigned a long-term rating of 'CARE AA+; Stable' for its debt instruments post the scheme of amalgamation of Piramal Finance Limited ('PFL') and Piramal Capital Limited ('PCL') with PCHFL (erstwhile Piramal Housing Finance Limited). PFL was rated 'CARE AA; Stable' by CARE Ratings and post the amalgamation, the long-term debt instruments have been assigned a rating of 'CARE AA+; Stable' in PCHFL. PCHFL has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) and is the flagship entity for the Group's financial services business.

This rating recognizes the strong performance across both real estate and non-real estate sectors over several quarters, takes into account robust risk management metrics, a stringent in-house asset management and monitoring process that has kept NPAs in check despite a strong ramp up of the lending business. The rating also reflects conscious and sustained effort to diversify the asset base even as the scale of business increased and add granularity to the loan book through a foray into retail Housing Finance, lending more towards Construction Finance and lease rental discounting under real estate segment, expansion to multiple sectors by the Corporate Finance Group and focus on mid-market corporate through the Emerging Corporate Lending vertical.

The rating also factors in a highly successful QIP and Rights Issue undertaken by PEL during the past financial year of ~INR 7,000 crore, of which INR 5,000 crore has been allocated to the financial services business. On the liability side, the ratings reflect robust treasury management with low levels of leverage.

Mr. Khushru Jijina, Managing Director, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance, said, "FY2018 was an eventful year for us as we made conscious and definitive strides towards an increasingly diversified and more granular portfolio. We continued to grow our real estate lending business with a foray into hospitality and an increased exposure to Lease Rental Discounting (LRD)."  

He further added, "For non-real estate, the growth in our Corporate Finance Group comprised mainly of senior debt and project finance and with Emerging Corporate Lending, we set the foundation for more granular lending. Our retail housing finance vertical also established a strong footprint in a relatively short period of time."

"We believe that with the restructuring and the recent allocation of capital, coupled with our complete suite of diversified products across wholesale and retail will prove to be a distinct competitive advantage in our journey of continued growth. This credit rating from CARE serves as a fitting validation of our efforts," he said.                                   

About Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited:  

Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited (PCHFL), wholly owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Limited (the flagship company of Piramal Group), is registered as a housing finance company with National Housing Bank (NHB) and engaged in various financial services businesses. It provides both wholesale and retail funding opportunities across sectors. In real estate, the platform provides housing finance and other financing solutions across the entire capital stack ranging from early stage private equity, structured debt, senior secured debt, construction finance and flexi lease rental discounting. The wholesale business in non-real estate sector includes separate verticals- Corporate Finance (CFG) and Emerging Corporate Lending (ECL). CFG provides customized funding solutions to companies across sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, roads, industrials, auto components etc. while ECL focuses on lending towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

PCHFL through its group companies provides customized strategies for institutional and retail investors such as Mumbai Redevelopment Fund and Apartment Fund (through Piramal Fund Management) and strategic partnerships with leading global pension funds such as CPPIB, APG and Ivanhoe Cambridge.

About Piramal Enterprises Ltd:  

Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) is one of India's large diversified companies, with a presence in Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Insights & Analytics. PEL's consolidated revenues were over US$1.6 billion in FY2018, with around 46% of revenues generated from outside India.

In Pharma, through an end-to-end manufacturing capabilities across 13 global facilities and a large global distribution network to over 100 countries, PEL sells a portfolio of niche differentiated pharma products and provides an entire pool of pharma services (including in the areas of injectable, HPAPI etc.). The company is also strengthening its presence in the Consumer Product segment in India.

PEL's Healthcare Insights & Analytics business is the premier provider of healthcare analytics, data & insight products and services to the world's leading pharma, biotech and medical technology companies and enables them to take informed business decisions.

In Financial Services, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd. is registered as a housing finance company with National Housing Bank (NHB) and engaged in various financial services businesses. It provides both wholesale and retail funding opportunities across sectors. In real estate, the platform provides housing finance and other financing solutions across the entire capital stack ranging from early stage private equity, structured debt, senior secured debt, construction finance and flexi lease rental discounting. The wholesale business in non-real estate sector includes separate verticals - Corporate Finance (CFG) and Emerging Corporate Lending (ECL). CFG provides customized funding solutions to companies across sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, roads, industrials, auto components etc. while ECL focuses on lending towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). PCHFL through its group companies provides customized strategies for institutional and retail investors such as Mumbai Redevelopment Fund and Apartment Fund focused (through Piramal Fund Management) and strategic partnerships with leading global pension funds such as CPPIB, APG and Ivanhoe Cambridge. The division has also launched a Distressed Asset Investing platform with Bain Capital Credit - IndiaRF that will invest in equity and/or debt in assets across sectors (other than real estate) to drive restructuring with active participation in turnaround. PEL also has long-term equity investments worth ~US$1 billion in Shriram Group, a leading financial conglomerate in India.

PEL is listed on the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited in India.

Media Contact :
Riddhi Goradia
[email protected]
+91-22-33514174
Piramal Capital & Housing Finance