ICICI Bank’s net profit for the quarter ended March grew 8.5% on year to Rs 13,702 crore, due to a sharp fall in provisions and contingencies and an improvement in asset quality. The provisions and contingencies fell 89% on a year-on-year basis to Rs 96 crore, reflecting healthy asset quality and higher recoveries and write-backs.
According to Bloomberg estimates, the bottom line was pegged at Rs 12,677 crore. For the financial year ended March, the private lender’s standalone net profit the Rs 50,000 crore milestone.
The net interest income of the bank was up 8.4% on year to Rs 22,979 crore for the quarter ended March. Net interest margin (NIM) was 4.32% in Q4 as compared to 4.30% in Q3. For FY2026, NIM stood at 4.32%, similar to FY2025. The bank expects margins to remain range-bound in FY27, Sandeep Batra, executive director of ICICI Bank said in the post earnings media call.
Margin Stability
Other income saw a marginal growth on year and stood at Rs 7,309 crore. The lender reported a treasury loss of Rs 106 crore in Jan-Mar, as against a loss of Rs 157 crore in Oct-Dec. Batra said the treasury loss was reflected on the back of forex measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India.
Total advances increased by 15.8% year-on-year Rs 15.54 lakh crore as on March 31. The retail loan portfolio grew by 9.5% year-on-year, and comprised 50.4% of the total loan portfolio.
Credit Momentum
The business banking book grew by 24.4% year-on-year and the rural portfolio grew by 25.6% on year. The domestic corporate portfolio was up 9.3% year-on-year and 3.1% sequentially as on March-end. The domestic advances grew by 15.3% on-year. Total deposits increased by 11.4% on year to Rs 17.94 lakh crore at March 31. Average current and savings account deposits increased by 11.3% year-on-year.
In terms of asset quality, the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio improved to 1.40% as on March 31, as compared to 1.53% a quarter ago. The provisioning coverage ratio on non-performing loans was 75.8% at March 31. As on March-end, the bank holds total provisions of Rs 22,710 crore or 1.5% of loans. These provisions include the contingency provisions of Rs 13,100 crore. The bank also continued to hold additional provision of Rs 1,283 crore made in Q3 as directed by RBI in respect of the agricultural priority sector portfolio.