ICICI Bank Ltd. reported a 17.4% year-on-year jump in standalone fourth-quarter net profit to ₹10,708 crore, aided by strong loan growth.
Core operating profit in the three months ended March grew 10.5% YoY to ₹15,320 crore, the private lender said in a filing on Saturday. Net interest income (NII) in the quarter rose by 8.1% to ₹19,093 crore, from ₹17,667 crore a year earlier. But net interest margin dipped to 4.4%, from 4.9% in the year-earlier period.
Total period-end deposits grew 19.6% year-on-year to ₹14,12,825 crore as on March 31, 2024.
The bank’s outstanding domestic loan portfolio expanded 16.8% year-on-year to ₹11,50,955 crore as on March 31, 2024.
Domestic loans climb
During the quarter the bank’s net domestic advances grew 16.8% year-on-year. The retail loan portfolio grew 19.4% year-on-year and comprised 54.9% of the total loan portfolio as at March 31, 2024, Executive Director Sandeep Batra, said on a post earnings conference call.
He said ICICI’s business banking portfolio grew by 29.3% year-on-year as on March 31, 2024, and the SME business, comprising borrowers with a turnover of less than ₹250 crore grew 24.6% year-on-year.
The rural portfolio grew 17.2% year-on-year and 4.5% from the preceding quarter ended December.
The domestic corporate portfolio grew 10% year-on-year, he said.
‘Risk calibrated growth’
“Total advances increased by 16.2% year-on-year to ₹11,84,406 crore,” Mr. Batra said, adding that the bank would aim to grow its portfolio in a ‘risk calibrated’ manner.
Provisions (excluding provision for tax) were ₹718 crore, compared with ₹1,619 crore in the year-earlier period.
The bank would not constrain spending on IT, particularly to ensure customer protection, Mr. Batra asserted on the call.
Asset quality
The bank’s gross NPA ratio declined to 2.16% as on March 31, 2024, from 2.30% as on December 31, 2023. The net additions to gross NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, were ₹1,221 crore in Q4 FY24 compared with ₹363 crore in preceding quarter.
The gross NPA additions were ₹5,139 crore in Q4 compared with ₹5,714 crore in the December quarter. Recoveries and upgrades of NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, were ₹3,918 crore compared with ₹5,351 crore in Q3 FY24, the bank said in a statement. The bank had written off gross NPAs amounting to ₹1,707 crore in the last quarter.
The provisioning coverage ratio on NPAs was 80.3% as at March 31, 2024, it said.
‘Under resolution’
“Excluding NPAs, the total fund based outstanding to all borrowers under resolution as per the various extant regulations/ guidelines declined to ₹3,059 crore or 0.3% of total advances at March 31, 2024, from ₹3,318 crore at December 31, 2023,” Mr. Batra said. The bank holds provisions of ₹975 crore against these borrowers under resolution, as of March 31, 2024. In addition, the bank continues to hold contingency provisions of ₹13,100 crore at March 31, 2024.
The loan and non-fund based outstanding to performing corporate and SME borrowers rated BB and below amounted to ₹5,528 crore as at March 31, against ₹5,853 crore as on December 31, 2023.
For FY24, the bank’s profit after tax grew 28.2% to ₹40,888 crore.
The Board has recommended a dividend of ₹10 per share for FY24.
The bank’s consolidated profit after tax rose 18.5% YoY to ₹11,672 crore in the fourth quarter of FY24. Consolidated assets grew by 20.7% YoY to ₹23,64,063 crore as at March 31, the lender said.
