ICICI Bank stock a good bet, but look out for retail non-performing assets

With the Street getting a tad cautious on HDFC Bank and SBI, market interest is moving towards ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank has benefited from the challenges facing peers in the sector. In the June quarter, when the private lender demonstrated its ability to correct its asset quality issues sharply, it regained investors’ trust significantly.

Brokerages including Morgan Stanley and Nomura have increased their allocation to the ICICI Bank stock in recent weeks, as competitors face issues such as possible slowdown in retail loans and elevated provisioning costs.

The underperformance by the Axis Bank stock lately, too, has helped ICICI Bank level valuations against the former, after nearly four years. Factors such as lower toxic assets, a good mix of