ICRA has upgraded long term debt rating of Muthoot Finance from ''AA-/Stable''  to  ''AA/Stable''. Long term debt rating covers debt instruments of above one year. Short term debt rating covers debt instruments of upto one year. Under ICRA rating scale, ''AA'' rating carries a meaning ''Instruments with this rating are considered to have high degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations. Such instruments carry very low credit risk.''

ICRA may apply '+' (plus) or '-' (minus) sign to this rating to indicate their relative position within the category. By this upgrade, the definition of ICRA rated long term debt instruments will change from ''AA-''  to ''AA'' which indicates positive change in comparative standing within 'AA' rated category. 

George Alexander Muthoot, MD, Muthoot Finance said, ''The rating upgrade is a reflection of  consistent performance inspite of going through turbulent times in the last four years as well as improvement in financial performance last year. This upgrade is a recognition of the efforts of ‘Team Muthoot’. We believe that under AA category, we enter a different league of credit rated companies. We hope this upgrade will enable us to get finer rates from financial institutions and banks enabling us to reduce our cost of borrowings.'' 

Under short term debt rating, Muthoot Finance already has highest rating under that category from ICRA  with ''A1+'' rating which carries a meaning “Instruments with this rating are considered to have very strong degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations. Such instruments carry lowest credit risk.''

Shares of the company gained Rs 2.85, or 0.8%, to settle at  Rs 360.70.  The total volume of shares traded  was  131,634 at the BSE (Thursday).