ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest private lender, on Saturday reported 24% rise in net profit to Rs 10,272 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year, aided by strong loan growth. The lender surpassed street expectations, as Bloomberg analysts expected the bank to post Rs 9,950 crore net profit in the the quarter.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, increased 13.4% to Rs 18,678 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 16,465 crore in Q3 FY23.
Net interest margin (NIM) contracted to 4.43% in the second quarter of current fiscal compared to 4.65% in the same quarter in previous fiscal and 4.53% in the second quarter of current fiscal.
“We continue to see strong traction and momentum in retail term deposits resulting in a healthy growth in term deposits by 31.2% year-on-year. As far as Current Account-Savings Account (CASA) is concerned, lower growth is a trend across the banks. We would have to wait and see how CASA plays out over next year as we expect easing of monetary policy,” said Sandeep Batra, executive director, ICICI Bank
The private lender witnessed strong loan growth as its total advances increased by 18.5% year-on-year and 3.9% sequentially to Rs 11.53 trillion as of December 31, 2023. The retail loan portfolio grew by 21.4% year-on-year (YoY) and 4.5% sequentially, and comprised 54.3% of the total loan portfolio.
“Our deposit growth and loan growth has been quite balanced and we do not see any challenge in funding this level of loan growth,” said Anindya Banerjee, group CFO, ICICI Bank. “We do not see any constraint in our ability to garner deposits,” he added.
Total period-end deposits increased by 18.7% year-on-year and 2.9% sequentially to Rs 13.32 trillion as of December 31, 2023, while term deposits increased by 31.2% YoY and 4.9% sequentially to Rs 8 trillion. Average savings account deposits increased by 2.8% YoY in Q3-2024.
The non-interest income excluding treasury increased by 14% to Rs 5,861 crore in the second quarter of current fiscal from Rs 5,139 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
The bank was able to improve its asset quality during the quarter as its gross NPA ratio declined to 2.30% at December 31, 2023, from 2.48% at September 30, 2023. The net NPA ratio was 0.44% at December 31, 2023, compared to 0.43% at September 30, 2023, and 0.55% at December 31, 2022.
The net additions to gross NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, were Rs 363 crore in Q3-2024 compared to Rs 116 crore in Q2-2024. The gross NPA additions were Rs 5,714 crore in Q3-2024 compared to Rs 4,687 crore in Q2-2024. Recoveries and upgrades of NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, were Rs 5,351 crore in Q3-2024 compared to Rs 4,571 crore in Q2-2024.
The provisions (excluding provision for tax
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