ICICI Bank net jumps 20 per cent

ICICI recorded a 17 per cent increase in the core net interest income at Rs 2,712 crore on the back of 19 per cent expansion in credit.

The bank’s corporate loan book,which accounts for 26.4 percent of its assets,grew a healthy 30 per cent during the reporting quarter,while the retail component,which occupies 33.5 percent of assets,was muted with an 8 per cent growth.

ICICI Managing Director and Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar said the increase in numbers was largely aided by corporate loans,but retail segment growth will outpace corporate book growth on lower base going forward.

Kochhar also said December quarter figure is the best number it has posted for any three-month period.

Helped by an increase in composition of the low-cost current and savings account (Casa) deposits,which grew to 43.6 per cent,up from 42.1 percent three months back,the bank was able to expand its net interest margin (NIM) to 2.7 per cent in the September quarter when it stood 2.64 percent.

It is targeting a NIM of 2.7 percent for the fiscal,Kochhar said.

Fee income grew 5 per cent to Rs 1,701 crore during the October-December period,she said.

At a time when a majority of banks are reporting an increase in stressed assets,ICICI was able to bring down its provisions to Rs 341.10 crore from Rs 464.27 crore a year ago.

Its net non-performing assets ratio has come down by 10 basis points to 0.70 percent from 0.80 percent.

There was a net increase of Rs 500 crore on the restructured accounts while Kochhar said she does not expect any new shocks in the making.

“Some larger cases which are already known need to go through restructuring…I am not expecting any surprises beyond that,” she said in a conference call.

Investors cheered the numbers and the ICICI Bank counter rose nearly 6.5 percent intra-day and closed at Rs 901.80 up 5.85 percent on the BSE whose 30-share Sensex was rallied 2 percent or 336.30 points today.

Kochhar said the bank is retaining its guidance of 18 per cent credit growth for the entire fiscal.

On troubled sectors,Kochhar said its entire exposure of up to 4 percent to commercial realty is performing while there is no particular stress on the individual mortgage loans as well.

Its exposure to state electricity boards,which are passing through turbulent times,is minimal and not a cause for concern.

Auto loans,which the bank had been keeping off for a while till a few year ago,grew 10 percent in the nine-months period and the quality is very “stable”,Kochhar said.

The bank’s total capital adequacy stood at a comfortable 18.88 percent as on December 31 with the core tier-I capital accounting for 13.13 percent of it.

In the backdrop of policy actions like a cut in the cash reserve ratio,the bank does not have any immediate plan of revising its lending or deposit rates,she said.

On its subsidiaries,life insurance arm ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s post-tax profit for the nine-months period more than doubled to Rs 1,056 crore while the general insurance arm’s profit grew 36 percent over last year to Rs 101 crore.

Meanwhile,the bank board appointed Swati Piramal,director of strategic alliances and communications at the Piramal Goup,as a non-executive director today.