ICICI Bank Q1 profit jumps 13.8 pc on high loan growth, core income

Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 13.88 per cent jump in June quarter consolidated profit at Rs 15,440 crore, up from Rs 13,558 crore in the year-ago period on the back of faster credit growth. In an exchange filing, the second-largest private sector lender said its standalone net profit grew 15.95 per cent to Rs 14,804 crore for the April-June quarter on a standalone basis, up 15.95 per cent from Rs 12,768 crore in the year-ago period. The net interest income (NII) increased 12.7 per cent on-year to Rs 24,384 crore in the quarter under review, on the back of a nearly 20 per cent jump in advances and a slight widening in the net interest margin to 4.36 per cent. Its Executive Director Sandeep Batra said the bank was able to buck a system-wide trend and report an expansion in NIMs courtesy a income tax refund and also repricing of term deposits. Going forward, channeling-in inflows from the FCNR(B) will be "dilutive" on the NIMs front, he said, but the bank is confident of keeping it "range-bound" for FY27. Declining to share a target on the FCNR(B) front, Batra said the bank has activated its international network and also looking for partners to ramp up and make the FCNR (B) a success. The bank did not offer a guidance on its comfort on the maximum leverage that it is planning for, saying that it depends on a number of factors, including the call taken by its local partners as well. In the quarter under review, the other income excluding treasury income increased by 16 per cent on-year to Rs 8,425 crore for the reporting quarter and the bank also reported a treasury gain of Rs 151 crore. The deposit growth came at 14 per cent for the lender. From an asset quality perspective, the gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 1.38 per cent from 1.67 per cent a year ago and 1.40 per cent at the end of March this year. Fresh slippages came at Rs 5,500 crore, which was down from Rs 6,200 crore in the year-ago period but higher when compared to the preceding quarter. Bank officials explained that there is seasonality every year, where the first quarter tends to have higher stress primarily because of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) accounts. Provisions, excluding money set aside as tax, was Rs 1,260 crore in Q1, down from Rs 1,815 crore in Q1FY26. The bank does not see any material impact of the transition to the expected credit loss-based system from April 1, 2027 and has adequate covers in place for the same, he said. The bank disclosed that it continues to carry a Rs 13,100-crore provision on its books. From a sustenance of the loan growth perspective, the bank said it sees adequate opportunities to lend in the corporate book, where the banking system has been slow to grow due to variety of factors over the last many years, Batra said. The bank does not have any preferences or a list of sectors it wishes to avoid either, he said, stressing that the high credit growth of nearly 20 per cent -- one of the highest reported by any bank so far in Q1 -- is a function of the economic activity and also policy initiative, Batra said. Stressing that the bank will not lend if it sees pricing pressures, he admitted that part of the credit growth in Q1 was because of the rates situation in alternative sources of finance. The bank is investing on the artificial intelligence front to enhance customer experience and make its internal operations more efficient, Batra said, maintaining that at the moment, it does not see any material impact on employees because of the new-age tech. The overall capital adequacy stood at 16.84 per cent as on June 30, 2026. PTI AA TRB