What does a credit rating measure?
A credit rating is an agency's opinion on whether a borrower will repay a debt on time. The debt can be a bank loan, a bond or commercial paper.
It says nothing about the share price. Rating agencies, such as CARE Ratings, are registered with SEBI and follow its rules.[S4]
SEBI fixes the symbols every agency uses for long-term debt, from AAA to D.[S1]
| Symbol | SEBI's description of the safety of timely repayment |
|---|---|
| AAA | Highest degree of safety; lowest credit risk |
| AA | High degree of safety; very low credit risk |
| A | Adequate degree of safety; low credit risk |
| BBB | Moderate degree of safety; moderate credit risk |
| BB | Moderate risk of default |
| B | High risk of default |
| C | Very high risk of default |
| D | In default, or expected to be in default soon |
A "+" or "−" after AA to C shows a position within that band. Short-term debt uses a separate scale from A1 to A4, plus D.[S1]
Each symbol carries the agency's name in front, as in "CARE A+" or "CRISIL AAA".[S1]
What is a rating action?
Agencies review ratings regularly and when something changes. Each review ends in an action.
- Upgrade or downgrade: the rating moves up or down the scale.
- Reaffirmation: the rating stays the same.
- Outlook change: the expected direction changes, with or without a rating change.
- Rating watch: a short-term flag that a change may come soon.
- Withdrawal: the agency stops rating the debt, for example after it is repaid.
SEBI fixes the words agencies use. An outlook is Stable, Positive or Negative, and points to the near to medium term.[S1]
A rating watch has "positive", "negative" or "developing" implications, and points to the short term.[S1] Ratings on watch, short-term ratings and ratings in the C and D bands carry no outlook.[S1]
What must a listed company tell the exchanges?
A new rating or a revised rating is always a material event under SEBI's listing rules.[S3]
SEBI spells out what that covers.[S2]
- Ratings of any debt instrument, fixed deposit programme, or fund-raising plan, in India or abroad.
- A revision even if the company did not ask for it, or withdrew its request.
- A change in outlook, even when the rating itself does not move.
- In a downgrade, the reasons the agency gave.
Regulation 30 sets outer time limits for disclosures. They are 12 hours for events arising inside the company and 24 hours for events arising outside it.[S3]
Each year, the corporate governance report in the annual report also lists every rating and every revision in that year.[S3]
What does a real rating filing look like?
Saksoft's filing of 28 Sep 2026 is an upgrade, but a downgrade filing has the same shape. It was made under Regulation 30 and attached the agency's letter.[S4]
In the filing · Rating table, page 1
Long Term Bank Facilities CARE A+; Stable[S4]
The new long-term rating and outlook. The "Rating Action" column says "Upgraded from CARE A; Stable". So the rating moved up one notch, and the outlook stayed the same.
In the filing · Rating table, page 1
Short Term Bank Facilities CARE A1[S4]
The short-term rating, marked "Reaffirmed". Short-term ratings carry no outlook.
The table also gave the rated amount of each facility, in crore. A downgrade filing would add the reasons the agency gave.[S2]
See Saksoft's rating history on its governance section.
What does the agency's press release add?
After a rating action, the agency publishes a press release, also called a rating rationale. SEBI sets a minimum template for it.[S1]
- Rating sensitivities: what could trigger an upgrade or a downgrade, in numbers where possible.[S1]
- Liquidity: one of four words: Superior or Strong, Adequate, Stretched, or Poor, with an explanation.[S1]
- Rating history: past ratings of the company's rated debt over the previous three years.[S1]
The guide to reading a credit rating report walks through one real press release, section by section.
What does "Issuer not cooperating" mean?
Sometimes a company stops sharing information with the agency. The agency keeps rating it on the best available information.[S1]
In that case, the rating carries the suffix "ISSUER NOT COOPERATING".[S1] Agencies publish lists of such companies on their websites.[S1]
Where are ratings shown on Cityfort?
Each stock page shows the company's rating, agency and date under "Governance signals", with the source.
See it in real companies
Credit ratings of companies on Cityfort
16 companies on Cityfort, listed A–Z (not ranked).
- Asian Paints
- Crisil AAA (bank loans) / A1+ (short term), outlook Stable10 Sep 2026 · source S114
- Bajaj Finance
- CRISIL AAA, outlook Stable17 Sep 2026 · source S23
- Bharti Airtel
- CRISIL AAA, outlook Stable17 Jul 2025 · source S38
- Hindustan Unilever
- Crisil AAA (long term) / A1+ (short term), outlook Stable3 Oct 2025 · source S57
- ICICI Bank
- ICRA AAA (issuer rating), outlook Stable23 Oct 2026 · source S65
- Kalyani Steels
- CARE Ratings AA (long-term); A1+ (short-term), outlook Stable4 Dec 2024 · source S29, S1
- Kotak Mahindra Bank
- ICRA AAA, outlook Stable5 Jun 2026 · source S66
- Reliance Industries
- ICRA AAA, outlook Stable21 Oct 2026 · source S46
- Saksoft
- CARE Ratings CARE A+ (long term) / CARE A1 (short term), outlook Stable28 Sep 2026 · source S44
From each company's filings, as cited on its Cityfort stock page. These figures change when a stock page is updated.
A rating is about debt repayment, so it can stay the same while the share price moves. Cityfort shows it as a fact from the filing, not as a view on the share.