Fitch affirms IIFL Finance at B-plus with stable outlook

Singapore, March 16 : Fitch Ratings on Tuesday affirmed IIFL Finance Ltd's long-term issuer default rating at B-plus and removed the rating from rating watch negative (RWN).
The outlook is stable, reflecting Fitch's view of easing downside risk to the company's credit profile due to less adverse economic and funding conditions which is expected to be broadly sustained in the coming year.
The ratings were placed on RWN in March 2020 and maintained on RWN at the last review in September 2020.
IIFL Finance's rating is driven by its standalone credit profile, reflecting its moderate local franchise and diversified loan portfolio, balanced against more opportunistic strategy and execution, exposure to higher-risk loan segments and a more market-sensitive funding profile that is less cushioned by contingent funding and liquidity buffers relative to higher-rated peers.
Fitch said loan collection trends continue to improve, but significant shortfalls persist in several segments.
"We believe business loans, construction finance and microfinance remain at greater risk of credit slippage. The three segments together accounted for about 44 per cent of on-balance-sheet loans at end-2020."
A proposed sell-down of the construction finance portfolio may reduce on-balance-sheet exposure but Fitch said it can still leave a significant proportion of credit risk with IIFL Finance.