Mumbai: Hit by higher bad-loans and weak
performance in key segments, country's largest private lender
ICICI Bank today reported 13.4 per cent fall in net profit at
Rs 1,101.6 crore for the October-December quarter.
However, ICICI Bank Managing Director & CEO Chanda
Kochhar told reporters that outlook on the asset quality in
the fourth quarter is "positive".
"I think the peak of credit quality (deterioration) is
behind us," Kochhar said, adding that the bank's outlook on
NPAs in Q4 FY'10 is positive.
The lender saw its net non-performing assets in the third
quarter jumping to 2.19 per cent against 1.95 per cent in the
same quarter last fiscal.
Kochhar said the bank has achieved a significant
improvement in growing its cheaper deposits and fee-based
income. Current, savings account deposits as at end-December
contribute 39.6 per cent to total deposits from 27.4 per cent
in year-ago quarter.
Fee-based income grew to Rs 1,422 crore in Q3, up 6 per
cent compared to Rs 1,347 crore in the same quarter last year.
ICICI Bank's loan-book further shrank to Rs 1,79,269
crore in the quarter against Rs 1,90,860 crore as on
September 30, 2009.
Shares of the company closed at Rs 853.35 on BSE, down by
2.71 per cent over previous close.
Kochhar said the decrease is mainly on account of a
reduction in the unsecured lending portfolio and the loan
portfolio of overseas branches.
During the quarter, the bank has seen a robust growth
in its home, car and corporate advances and expects this to
continue this quarter as well, Kochhar said, adding that
financing to execute projects are likely to pick-up only in
Q4.
Total deposits of the bank, during the quarter, stood
at Rs 1,97,653-crore as at December from Rs 1,97,832-crore in
the preceding quarter.
The lender made a total provisioning of Rs 1,002-crore
in Q3 FY 10 as compared to Rs 1,008-crore in Q3 FY 09.
On the RBI's directive to achieve 70 per cent loan
loss coverage ratio by September, Kochhar said taking into
account the technical write-offs, the lender would reach the
70 per cent level by September. Currently it is at 62 per
cent.
The bank was also optimistic in improving its net
interest margin (NIM) in the current quarter, Kochhar said.
Presently, its NIM stands at 2.6 per cent.
On a consolidated basis, ICICI Bank reported a 26.36
per cent drop in net profit at Rs 1,148.66-crore for the third
-quarter. Total income declined to Rs 14,176.84-crore from Rs
16,922.73-crore in the year-ago period.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 18:54