The current volatility has once again made HDFC Bank the most valued private sector bank in India,with the market capitalisation of the bank quietly overtaking that of ICICI Bank in line with the steady progression of its income and profit that have narrowed the gap with ICICI Bank. On Thursday,the market cap of top HDFC Bank stood at Rs 1,11,799 crore,while that of ICICI Bank stood at Rs 1,08,591 crore. ICICI Bank share prices have fallen by 11.6 per cent over the last three weeks as against a 4.2 per cent fall in HDFC Banks share price. Experts say that HDFC Bank holding on in this volatile period is linked to the banks fundamentals and its growth. Maintaining higher growth and better quality of assets are the reasons for the strong performance of HDFC Banks stock in the market, said Ajay Parmar,head of research at Emkay Global Financial Services. HDFC Banks march towards ICICI has been a very steady and from a time in 2006-07 when HDFC Banks total income stood at Rs 8,405 crore and was far behind that of ICICI Banks at Rs 28,923 crore,it ended up with a total income of Rs 24,263 crore in March 2011 against Rs 32,622 crore registered by ICICI Bank. The growth of HDFC Banks income and profits have been very strong over the past four years while that of ICICI Bank has lagged significantly. While HDFC Banks total income and net profit over the last three years have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent and 35 per cent respectively,that of ICICI Bank has grown by -6 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
