Interestingly, name recognition (knowledge of the issuer) is the first and most important of thefiveCs. In this respect, retail investors have a major advantage in assessing credit risk, over investors in the subsection of the corporate bond market that is the domain of small, unrated corporate bond issuers.
What are the five Cs of credit?
Character
When considering the first of the five Cs, character, a lender needs to know
whether the borrower is trustworthy. Will they do what they say they are going to do, in all respects related to the loan?
Will interest payments be made on time and the principal repaid at the maturity of the loan? Will the money borrowed be used for the stated purpose?
When considering a corporate bond issue, investors should be concerned about corporate governance. Corporate governance determines the behaviour of
the company and its officers.
Is the borrower a good corporate citizen? Are there instances where the company has not done the right thing by investors or stakeholders, even though
it may have been acting legally?
Has the company been caught-up in any scandals? Is it involved in any activities or industries that you as an investor, would prefer not to be exposed
to?
Too often, it seems that character is an afterthought, with more attention paid to the remaining four Cs.
Capability
Capacity is about the financial position of the borrower and the borrower’s ability to generate sufficient future cash flow to service the loan.
From the financial statements of the borrower, a good assessment can be made of a company’s solvency and liquidity. Its profit and loss and cash flow
statements will show whether the company is consistently profitable and generates sufficient cash flow toservice the bonds to be issued, along with
all its existing borrowings.
Capital
Capital relates to the purpose of the borrowing. What are the proceeds of the bond issue going to be used for and how much of its own money is the
company going to contribute to the project?
This is about having skin in the game. It provides a wonderful incentive to the company to ensure that its project is successful, and that the project
will not be abandoned when difficulties are encountered.
However, with bond issues there is often no specific project to which the funds raised will be applied. “General corporate purposes”, is frequently
the stated use.
This simply means that the money raised from the sale of the bonds will be used to fund day to day activities. In this case, investors need to be
satisfied that the company itself is sufficiently well capitalised and is too reliant on debt to fund its balance sheet.
Collateral
Collateral provides lenders with a second source of repayment, should a borrower fail to meet its obligations and default on the loan. Collateral is
the security offered by the borrower (a charge over land and buildings, plant and equipment, guarantees from a creditworthy third party), which can
be sold or called on by lenders to recover their capital and any outstanding interest, when the borrower defaults.
Typically however, few bond issues come with security, and if they do, the security will be shared equally with other lenders, including the company’s
bankers. Most bond issues are unsecured and can rank behind secured lenders, such as the company’s bankers.
Investors need to be satisfied with the adequacy of the security offered or be comfortable with being unsecured or ranking behind other creditors
to the company.
Conditions
Conditions is the fifth C, that was later added to the first four. This refers to the terms and conditions attached to the loan that are either imposed
by lenders on the borrower or in the case of bond issues, are offered by the issuer to investors.
Banks will often impose conditions on corporate loans, particularly where the borrowing is being undertaken for a specific purpose. But more generally,
there will be conditions such as maintaining a minimum level of capitalisation, a maximum level of gearing, and minimum level of interest cover and
debt serviceability.
The sale and purchase of significant assets may also be restricted, if not prohibited.
Conditions are less common in bond issues. Financial undertakings in relation to gearing, interest cover and debt serviceability may be offered but
often there will be no significant conditions at all.
Investors need to be aware of the conditions offered and decide whether they are satisfactory or not. Where no conditions are offered, investors must
be comfortable that they are providing the company with funds that it can use in any way it pleases.
This is where, combined with an absence of collateral, character or corporate governance becomes absolutely critical: there must be trust that the
borrower will be responsible and honour its obligations to bond holders. This trust should not be misplaced.
The five Cs remain fundamental to credit risk assessment
Introductory banking courses still cover the five Cs of credit. The approach to credit risk assessment typically appears early in the course and then
the course content moves on to discuss “more exciting” topics.
Banking students and practitioners may not think much more about the five Cs thereafter. Focus will switch to assessing the macro-economic environment,
industry risk, earnings and cash flow projections and calculating relevant financial ratios.
But why is this information being gathered, where does it sit in the decision making process?
A similar treatment may be given to the five Cs in finance and investment courses. And of course retail investors may never hear of them, unless they
are particularly diligent about managing their own investment portfolios, and do not simply rely on the recommendations of advisors.
Yet, upon reflection, it is clear that the five Cs set out the framework for everything that a lender or investor needs to consciously consider before
making a decision. In an era of information overload, application of the framework allows information to be categorised into what is useful for decision
making and what is irrelevant.
In the past information asymmetry has posed a hurdle for lenders and investors to overcome, and considerable work may have been required to do so.
And perhaps because of the amount of work involved, the reason for gathering the information was not forgotten, and unnecessary effort was not expended.
Today, with 100 page plus prospectuses, and not to mention the font of all knowledge, the internet, only the most obscure borrowers can remain a mystery
to potential lenders. But there may be too much information.
The five Cs set out what a lender/investor needs to know. Consciously applying the framework can only improve the decision made and decision
making efficiency.
Philip Bayley
Philip is the Principal of ADCM Services, publisher of The DCM Review an independent online commentary, analysis and data on Australia & New Zealand's debt capital markets. He is also a contributing editor to Banking Day and a director at Australia Ratings.
