ICICI Bank on Saturday announced a 14.5% year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs 11,746 crore for the September quarter, supported by strong loan growth and improvement in asset quality. The lender surpassed street expectations as Bloomberg estimates had pegged the profits at Rs 10,952 crore. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 9.5% to Rs 20,048 crore in the September quarter of the current financial year from Rs 18,308 crore in the samee quarter of the previous fiscal.
The net interest margin shrunk to 4.27% in the first quarter from 4.53% in the same quarter of the previous year.
The bank expects the NIM to be stable until the turn in the rate cycle. “Till the rain cut cycles starts expectations for the near term is that NIMs would be stable. Our overall objective is to maximise the overall profitability through optimising various levers which include NIM as one of the anchors, the others are fees, expenses and provisions,” said Sandeep Batra, executive director, ICICI Bank, in an earnings call. “We will continue to work with all the levers and try to give the best possible outcome both from customer and shareholders perspective,” he said.
Total advances increased by 15% year-on-year and 3.3% sequentially to Rs 12.77 lakh crore on September 30. The retail loan portfolio grew by 14.2% year-on-year and 2.9% sequentially, and comprised 53% of the total loan portfolio on September 30.
The business banking portfolio grew by 30% year-on-year and 10.7% sequentially on September 30. The rural portfolio grew by 16.5% year-on-year and 1.7% sequentially on September 30. The domestic corporate portfolio grew by 11.8% year-on-year and 4.9% sequentially on September 30.
ICICI Bank moderated its pace of growth in the unsecured lending portfolio. The personal loan portfolio rose by 17.3%, the credit card book was up 28% year-on-year.
Deposits increased by nearly 16 % year-on-year and 5% sequentially to Rs 14.97 lakh crore on September 30. Term deposits increased by 16% year-on-year and 5.5% sequentially to Rs 8.89 lakh crore.
The bank improved its asset quality as its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio declined to 1.97% on September 30 this year from 2.15% at June 30, 2024. The net NPA ratio was 0.42% on September 30 compared to 0.43% on June 30, 2024. Provisions increased to Rs 1,233 crore in Q2-2025 compared to Rs 583 crore in Q2-2024 and Rs 1,332 in Q1-2025. Recoveries and upgrades of NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, were Rs 3,319 crore in Q2-2025 compared Rs 3,292 crore in Q1-2025.