Shares of SKS Microfinance today surged nearly 13 per cent after the company said it has received ‘A’ ratings for bank facilities of about Rs 2,000 crore from a leading rating agency, which could help it enhance credit availability and reduce cost of borrowings.
The announcement was made after market hours yesterday.
The SKS Microfinance scrip zoomed 12.6 per cent to Rs 139.35 on the BSE. At the NSE, the stock shot up by 12.86 per cent to Rs 139.45.
SKS Microfinance had yesterday said a leading rating agency has assigned ‘A’ for its long-term and ‘A1’ for its short-term bank facilities for Rs 2,000 crore.
“The ratings would help to reduce the risk weights assigned to banks’ exposure on SKS Microfinance from the present 100 per cent to 50 per cent in the case of long-term facilities and 30 per cent for short-term facilities,” S. Dilli Raj, Chief Financial Officer, SKS Microfinance, had said.
“The ratings are likely to enhance credit availability and reduce the cost of borrowing as they will free up capital allocation for banks in the case of SKS Microfinance’s borrowings. We are unable to quantify the gains at this juncture, but expect the impact will be positive,” he added.
According to the rating agency, instruments with ‘A’ rating are considered to have an adequate degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations and carry low credit risk. Instruments with ‘A1’ rating are considered to have a strong degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations and carry lowest credit risk, SKS said in a filing with BSE yesterday.
SKS Microfinance’s borrowings as of August 31, 2013, stood at Rs 1,675 crore.