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— Paul Noronha

Gaining credit: Mr K.V. Kamath, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank with Ms Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director & CFO, at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, April 26 Even after making a provision of $100 million for marked-to-market losses on its overseas credit derivatives exposure, ICICI Bank posted a 39 per cent rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31.

The net profit rose to Rs 1,150 crore, from Rs 825 crore last year, as the bank earned higher interest income and fee income. The bank’s net interest income for the quarter increased by 29 per cent to Rs 2,079 crore from Rs 1,609 crore.

Ms Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director and CFO, ICICI Bank, said the marked-to-market losses are only on account of the widening of credit spreads overseas. There has been no deterioration in the quality of assets.” The entire credit derivatives portfolio of ICICI Bank is around $1.6 billion.

The bank’s treasury income fell by 63 per cent to Rs 164 crore from Rs 445 crore, which was partly on account of the fall in the equity market. Ms Kochhar said the bank’s clients would have made losses on account of currency exposure but declined to give any details on such losses. “Few cases are under dispute. We have made adequate provision,” she said.

Net Interest Margin of the bank improved to 2.4 per cent from 2.28 per cent and the cost of funds came down during the year from 7.9 per cent to 7.4 per cent. The bank improved the share of its low cost CASA deposits (current account saving account) to 26 per cent, from 22 per cent last year, she said.

The board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per share for the full year. Net profit for the full year increased by 34 per cent to Rs 4,158 crore (Rs 3,110 crore). (see table)

The bank’s retail credit during the year grew only by three per cent. Ms Kochhar said the bank consciously tightened its uncollateralised loans because of the risks in collection and recoveries in this portfolio. The bank also sold Rs 14,000 crore of its retail portfolio in the fiscal just ended.

For the current year, the bank is targeting a moderate growth of 14-15 per cent in its retail portfolio, said Mr V. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director. The growth in both credit and deposit saw a slowdown. The credit growth was at 15 per cent, against 30 per cent last year; deposit was up 6 per cent, against 40 per cent last year. The bank saw a rise in its net NPAs to 1.55 per cent (1.02 per cent).

On Friday, shares of ICICI Bank closed at Rs 916.15, up 4.54 per cent from the previous close of Rs 876.40, on the BSE.

More Stories on : Financial Performance | Private Banks | ICICI Bank Ltd

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