Page 2 - Fitch Ratings

Fitch affirms India at 'BBB-', says medium-term growth outlook is key

Fitch said India's rating reflects strengths from a robust growth outlook compared to peers and still-resilient external finances

South Indian Bank's move on tier-2 bond won't disrupt sector: Fitch

Lender decision to not redeem the bonds does not indicate any weakness in capital position, says ratings agency

Strong bank loan growth in FY23 despite higher interest rates: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Monday said India's bank credit will see strong growth in current financial year despite effects of higher interest rates. It said the strong loan growth should benefit net revenue, particularly as it will be coupled with wider net interest margins. "We see bank credit expanding by around 13 per cent in FY23, up from 11.5 per cent in FY22. The acceleration will be driven by the normalisation of economic activity after the COVID-19 pandemic, and high nominal GDP growth, which we expect to boost demand for retail and working-capital loans," Fitch said in a statement. Fitch forecasts India's real GDP growth at 7 per cent in 2022-23. It said Indian banks generally remain open to additional capital-raising to fund growth, despite the rise in rates. "Private banks are generally better than state banks at capital planning, although moves to raise fresh equity are likely to be opportunistic and incremental," Fitch added. The rating agency expects greater competition for .

Overall commercial-vehicle volume to touch 1 mn units by FY24: Fitch

Domestic commercial-vehicle (CV) sales volume will witness significant growth over the next few years and the overall CV volume is likely to reach close to 1-million units by FY24, a report said on Wednesday. The report by credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings also expects growing demand and the resultant rise in operating leverage to boost the profitability of the domestic CV-focused original equipment manufacturers after FY22, despite elevated production costs. A recovery in medium and heavy CVs from multi-year lows, along with sustained growth in light CV categories, will help overall CV volume to reach close to 1-million units by FY24 the level of the last cyclical peak recorded in FY19, it said. According to Fitch, domestic CV sales volume are expected to grow in the mid-to high-teens over the next few years. Factors like rapid recovery in India's economic activity after the pandemic shock and the government's planned increase in infrastructure spending will help sustain an ...

Fitch Ratings cuts UK's credit outlook to negative on fiscal risk

The UK's credit outlook was lowered to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings, which cited risk the government's new growth plan could increase the nation's fiscal deficit

Fitch affirms Bank of Baroda, subsidiary at 'BBB-' with stable outlook

Action factors in a high likelihood of sovereign support to the public sector lender; rating agency says profitability to rise further; high loan growth to resume

Fitch cuts India FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7%; world GDP growth at 2.4%

At a more macro level, Fitch now expects world GDP to grow by 2.4 per cent in 2022 - revised down by 0.5 percentage points (ppt) since the June assessment

Top headlines: Vehicle sales up 8% in Aug; Fitch affirms rating for 4 NBFCs

Two-wheeler sales were up 8.5 per cent and three-wheeler by 8.3 per cent in August. Passenger and commercial vehicle sales increased 6.5 per cent and 24 per cent

Pak rupee, stocks sink amid political uncertainty; Fitch downgrades rating

Pakistan is looking at financial meltdown as rupee fell against the US dollar while the stock market shed at least 1,500 points in two days after Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's credit rating

Repayment pressure to test banks' loan underwriting quality: Fitch

Mounting repayment pressure for some borrowers, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, amid India's interest rate hikes will test banks' loan underwriting quality, Fitch Ratings said

Banks' asset-quality risk to be moderate after RBI rate hike: Fitch Ratings

'Mounting repayment pressure for some borrowers amid India's interest rate hikes, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, will test banks' loan underwriting quality'

Improved economic activity to support demand for steel, cement: Fitch

Fitch Ratings forecast strong medium-term growth to support the demand for India's steel, cement and chemicals sectors, with improved economic activity boosting power and petroleum product sales

Fitch Ratingsaffirms 'BBB-' rating to GAIL India, outlook stable

GAIL's gas-marketing segment is expected to benefit from high crude oil and spot LNG prices in FY23

Indian non-banking finance sector's profit to be stable: Fitch Ratings

Improving credit growth, decreasing asset-quality risks will be the character of Indian non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) during FY23, said Fitch Ratings on Monday

Fitch enhances ratings of 13 Indian firms to 'moderate downgrade risk'

These companies are either govt-related entities (GREs) with ratings linked to the sovereign rating or pvt entities whose ratings would be downgraded if India's Country Ceiling was lowered to 'BB+'

Cement sector's capacity utilisation to drop to 65%: Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings said it believes a sustained GDP growth, the government's thrust on infrastructure and affordable housing, and a revival in corporate capex, will underpin growth of the cement sector

Fitch sees another 100 bps policy rate hike by Dec, cites rising inflation

Growth will improve in June quarter as consumption revives and Covid-19 cases continue falling, it says

Top headlines: AI allowed to acquire AirAsia India; WPI inflation at 15.88%

Delhi's single-day Covid-19 infections breached the one thousand mark on Tuesday, with a positivity rate of 6.50 per cent and two fatalities, according to data shared by the health department here.

Fitch expects RBI to raise interest rates to 5.9% by December-end

Fitch Ratings said the Reserve Bank is likely to raise interest rates further to 5.9 per cent by December 2022, on deteriorating inflation outlook

Fitch lauds Indian economic recovery, ups outlook from negative to stable

The rating agency scaled down the GDP growth estimates for FY23 to 7.8% from 8.5%