ICICI Bank Q4 Results: Net profit jumps 30%

ICICI Bank, the second largest private bank in India, clocked nearly 30 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit to Rs 9,121.9 crore in the quarter ended March 2023.

The bank was expected to report a Rs 8,540-crore profit for the quarter ended March 2023,  according to the average of a poll of three brokerages' estimates taken  by Moneycontrol.

ICICI Bank’s net interest income (NII) rose 40.2 percent to Rs 17,667 crore from Rs 12,605 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

According to the poll, NII was expected to have grown 38 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 17,712 crore for the three months ended December.

ICICI Bank’s domestic loan book grew a healthy 20.5 percent, driven mainly by loans to business banking and retail. Business banking loans, which are credits to small informal businesses and rural businesses, grew 34.9 percent year-on-year, followed by 21 percent growth in loans to corporates. Retail loan portfolio of the bank grew by 22.7 percent year-on-year. Additionally, loans to small and medium enterprises (SME) rose by 19.2 percent from the same period in 2022.

"The business banking and SME franchise continues to grow on the back of digital offerings and platforms like InstaBIZ along with the Bank’s extensive branch network," ICICI Bank said in a release.

ICICI Bank’s provisions surged by 51.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,619 crore for the March quarter. The bank has a contingency provision of Rs 1,600 crore.

The bank reported a deposit growth rate of 10.9 percent during January and March, far slower than credit growth.

Net interest margin (NIM) for the bank was 4.90 percent in Q4 2023 compared to 4.00 percent in Q4 2022, and 4.65 percent in Q3 2023.

ICICI Bank’s gross bad loans as a percentage of its loan book came down to 2.81 percent from 3.60 percent a year ago. The net non-performing assets declined by 25.9 percent year-on-year and 8.8 percent sequentially to Rs 5,155 crore ($627 million) for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. The net NPA ratio declined to 0.48 percent from 0.76 percent a year ago and 0.55 percent in the previous quarter.

The management indicated that upgrades and recoveries have increased, a sign of improvement. Recoveries and upgrades were Rs 4,283 crore in the quarter ended March.

ICICI Bank's board also recommended a dividend of Rs 8 per share in line with applicable guidelines. "The declaration of dividend is subject to requisite approvals. The record/book closure dates will be announced in due course," said the bank.