HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank likely to post steady Q4; focus on commentary
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will kick off the banking sector’s March-quarter earnings season on Saturday, with brokerages expecting a stable performance but watching closely for management commentary on margins, growth and macroeconomic risks from the West Asia war.For HDFC Bank, the spotlight will be on leadership developments following the exit of former part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty on 18 March. Chakraborty had resigned with immediate effect from the board, citing “certain happenings and practices within the bank” that were “not in congruence” with his personal values and ethics, prompting questions on oversight and internal controls at trhe country's largest private bank.Following his resignation, HDFC Bank, in a late-night announcement, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had approved the appointment of board member and HDFC Group veteran Keki Mistry as an interim part-time chairman for three months from 19 March.
Chakraborty’s departure comes at a time when the lender is navigating balance sheet adjustments after its merger with erstwhile HDFC Ltd, an elevated credit-deposit (CD) ratio and near-term margin pressures.Brokerages expect the lender's growth trajectory to remain broadly stable. Led by stable loan growth, it is expected to report 7% year-on-year and 2% quarter-on-quarter rise in net profit for the quarter ended 31 March at ₹19,053 crore, according to a Bloomberg poll.However, margin trends will be closely watched, with Nomura Global Markets Research expecting a 4-basis-point on-quarter fall in net interest margin (NIM) due to the transmission of the last repo rate cut in December.In the quarter ended 31 December, HDFC Bank’s net interest income (NII) stood at
. Read on livemint.com