The board of directors of Crisil, which approved the audited financial results for 1998-99 at a meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday, recommended a dividend of Rs 5.50 per share of Rs 10, up from a Rs 4.50 dividend declared for 1997-98.

"Crisil's performance has been satisfying under the difficult conditions prevailing in the country which saw a significant drop in the number of bond issues alongwith increased competition," company managing director R Ravimohan said. According to him, the rating agency's ability to innovate and bring new products will ensure an even better performance in the current fiscal.

A Crisil release said that the operating income has shown a 12.75 per cent increase for the 1998-99 fiscal year, jumping from Rs 32.26crore in the previous fiscal to Rs 36.37 crore.

"The net profits have gone up despite a jump in taxation provisions to Rs 8.3 crore for 1998-99, as against Rs 5.5 crore for the previous year," it said and added that the company has registered a healthy growth in revenue despite widespread difficulty in the economy and industry. The provision for depreciation, however, remained almost constant at Rs 4.11 crore over the two fiscal years.

"Introduction of innovative new products and diversification into research, information and advisory services contributed significantly to the improved performance," the release said and added that most of the company's software and hardware systems are Y2K compliant and those non-compliant are being replaced and are expected to be Y2K compliant by September 1999.

US ratings major Standard & Poor's has close to 10 per cent equity stake in Crisil. The scope of Crisil's association with S&P was further enhanced through a tie-up with its subsidiaries to maket their productsin India.