India Ratings revises PNB Housing Finance NCD ratings from AA to AA+

PNB Housing Finance, a housing finance company, on Tuesday said that India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has upgraded the rating of the company’s non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to ‘IND AA+’ from ‘IND AA’ with stable outlook.

Further, Ind-Ra said that NCDs limit has been split into bank loans and NCDs and ‘IND AA+’ rating has been assigned to the bank loans.

The rating rationale, published on January 2, 2024, mentions that the key drivers for the rating upgrade are granularisation of loan book with 96 per cent being retail and almost complete rundown of the corporate book, robust capital buffers post equity infusion of ₹2,500 through rights issue, improved asset quality, diversified resource profile with the ability to raise funds from banks and the capital markets, adequate liquidity and improvement in profitability.

“This upgrade in our credit rating is a significant achievement for us and reinforces our strategy of being a prominent player in retail housing including affordable segment, improving key business metrics and strengthening our asset quality. It is testament to the success of our holistic growth strategy, built on the pillars of growth in loan asset, reduction in leverage ratios, and diversified resource profile with access to capital markets,” Girish Kousgi, MD and CEO, PNB Housing Finance said in a statement.