ICICI Bank on Saturday reported an 18% rise in net profit for the fourth quarter at Rs 12,630 crore, led by strong growth in interest and other income. The standalone net profit of the country’s second-largest private bank surpassed Bloomberg estimates of Rs 11,897 crore.
Interest income of the lender rose to Rs 42,431 crore during the January-March quarter as compared to Rs 37,948 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous year. Other income of the bank jumped 29% year-on-year to Rs 7,260.07 crore during the fourth quarter. The lender’s net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose by 11% year-on-year to Rs 21,193 crore during Q4FY25. Net interest margin (NIM) of the lender was stable on a year-on-year basis to 4.41% during Q4FY25 compared to 4.40% in Q4FY24. However, on a sequential basis, NIM improved from 4.25% in the third quarter of FY25.
Addressing the post-earnings media call, Sandeep Batra, executive director, ICICI Bank, attributed the sequential growth in NIM to the impact of cash reserve ratio reduction and some interest on tax refund during the third quarter.
“We will continue to look at ways to maximise opportunities to increase the risk calibrated profit,” he added. For the full year, the bank’s NIM stood at 4.32% in FY25.
Total advances of the lender rose by 13% year-on-year to Rs 13.42-lakh crore as of March 31. The retail loan portfolio, which accounts for over 53% of the total domestic loan book, recorded a 8.9% year-on-year growth to Rs 7.17-lakh crore. In contrast, the private bank’s retail loan book grew by 19.4% during the same period of FY24.
Batra attributed the moderation in retail loan portfolio primarily to slowdown in the unsecured segment. “Our personal loan growth was only 4.2% while credit cards growth was 11.7% during the quarter,” he said. Unsecured loans accounted for 13% of ICICI Bank’s total loan book.
In contrast, domestic corporate and other loans rose by 12% to Rs 2.80-lakh crore, while the business banking portfolio surged 34% year-on-year to Rs 2.63-lakh crore as of March 31. “We are not concerned about retail versus wholesale loan growth. we would like to grow our overall book in a risk calibrated fashion,” Batra said.
Total outstanding deposits of the bank rose by 14% year-on-year to Rs 16.10-lakh crore during as of March 31. The low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits accounted for 38.4% of the lender’s total deposits. Batra said the focus is essentially on growing the total quantum of deposits and not to drive any particular type of deposits like CASA or term deposits.
On the asset quality front, the bank’s gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio improved to 1.67% in Q4FY25 as against 2.16% a year ago. Similarly, net NPAs, or bad loans, came down to 0.39% from 0.42% at the end of March 31, 2024.
The gross NPA additions were Rs 5,142 crore in Q4FY25 compared to Rs 6,085 crore in the previous quarter. Of this, retail & rural loans slippages were Rs 4,300 crore while Rs 803 crore came from corporate & business banking. The bank’s recoveries and upgrades of NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, stood at Rs 3,817 crore in Q4FY25. “The net additions to gross NPAs were Rs 1,325 crore. We will be closely monitoring our portfolio to identify early any build of up stress but at this point in time, the portfolio is quite stable,” Batra said.
For the full year, ICICI Bank’s net profit rose by 16% to Rs 47,226 crore in FY25. ICICI Bank’s board also recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per share, which is subject to approvals.