ICICI Bank management on Q3 earnings performance
₹10,272 crore, up nearly 24% year-on-year but flat sequentially, surpassed analysts' estimates of ₹9,950 crore, as polled by Bloomberg. Here is what the management had to say about various performance metrics: Concerns around slowing growth in current and saving accounts (CASA) remained. The bank’s CASA deposits grew 3.8% year-on-year to ₹5.3 trillion, translating to a little under 40% of overall deposits.
The average CASA ratio was at 39.4% in Q3, down from 40.8% as on 30 September. “As far as CASA growth is concerned, lower growth is a trend across banks. We would have to wait and see how CASA spans over the next year as we expect easing of monetary policy," said Sandeep Batra, executive director, ICICI Bank.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio, which is a measure of a bank's capital compared to its risk-weighted assets and current liabilities, declined 146 basis points sequentially to 14.61%. This, following the banking regulator’s November diktat to raise risk weights for unsecured consumer loans. This means that the bank has to set aside additional capital against such loans leading to a fall in capital adequacy.
ICICI Bank’s total advances grew 18.5% year-on-year to ₹11.54 trillion as of 31 December, primarily led by an over 21% increase in the retail loan book, which rose to ₹6.43 trillion. Business loans saw the fastest growth of 32%, while the rural loan book grew 18% year-on-year. Within the retail loan book, personal loans and credit cards reported sharp increases of 37% and 40%, respectively.
Mortgages were a laggard with a 16% year-on-year rise. “We did some tightening of our portfolio. It is a continuous exercise.
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