Subsidiaries report upturn in business
ICICI Bank today said its consolidated net profit rose 79.27 per cent to Rs 1,341.80 crore during the quarter ended March 2010, compared to Rs 748.44 crore a year ago. The bank’s performance was boosted by an increase in non-interest income, lower operating expenses, lower provisions for non-performing assets and a strong show by its insurance, asset management and securities arms.
Total income fell 4.61 per cent to Rs 16,212.02 crore due to a decline in interest income. But with overall expenses falling due to savings in interest payments, the bank’s operating profits, on a consolidated basis, rose 34.39 per cent to Rs 3,009.52 crore during the quarter ended March 2010.
On a standalone basis, the bank’s net profit went up 35.20 per cent to Rs 1,005.57 crore during the fourth quarter of the last financial year, as against Rs 743.76 crore during January-March 2009.
ICICI Bank’s total income (standalone) declined 14 per cent to Rs 7,717.82 crore, mainly on account of a decline in interest income. Net interest income, or the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits, was 4.86 per cent lower at Rs 2,035 crore. Treasury income declined 8.41 per cent to Rs 196 crore during January-March 2010. But the shortfall was more than offset by a 13.25 per cent rise in fee income and higher lease and other income.
What also helped was an 8.74 per cent decline in non-tax provisions from Rs 1,085 crore in the fourth quarter of 2008-09 to Rs 990 crore during January-March 2010.
In addition, with the loan book still contracting, the bank managed to shave off 6.57 per cent from its operating expenses that were estimated at Rs 1,458 crore during the fourth quarter of the last financial year, compared to Rs 1,552 crore a year ago.
Besides, non-tax provisions fell 8.76 per cent to Rs 990 crore as the stock of bad debt declined.
The bank said that its provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved to 59.5 per cent at the end of March from 51.2 per cent three months ago. It has managed to get an additional six months from the Reserve Bank of India to comply with the 70 per cent loan-loss coverage norm.
But with the loan book shrinking 17 per cent, ICICI Bank saw the proportion of gross non-performing assets increase to 5.06 per cent at the end of March 2010, as against 4.32 per cent a year ago.
The bank’s deposit base also fell by 7.5 per cent as the focus remained on low-cost deposits. The share of low-cost current account and savings account (CASA) in total deposits increased to 41.7 per cent at the end of March from 28.7 per cent a year ago. During the year, its CASA base increased 34.43 per cent, or by around Rs 21,500 crore, to Rs 84,240 crore. On the savings accounts side, the increase during the year was of the order of Rs 12,200 crore. The bank’s net interest margin has stayed at 2.6 per cent, the same level as the last quarter as also at the end of March 2009.
| ICICI Bank (CONSOLIDATED) | |||
| Q4FY09 | Q4FY10 | % chg | |
| Total income | 16,995.59 | 16,212.02 | -4.61 |
| Interest Income | 8,968.84 | 6,891.25 | -23.16 |
| Other income | 8,026.75 | 9,320.77 | 16.12 |
| Total expenses | 14,757.82 | 13,202.50 | -10.54 |
| Operating profit | 2,237.77 | 3,009.52 | 34.49 |
| Non-tax provisions | 1,308.37 | 1,024.36 | -21.71 |
| Net profit | 748.44 | 1,341.80 | 79.28 |
| Gross NPA | 9,649.31 | 9,480.65 | -1.75 |
| Net NPA | 4,553.94 | 3,841.11 | -15.65 |
| Deposits | 2,18,347.82 | 2,02,016.60 | -7.48 |
| Advances | 2,18,310.85 | 1,81,205.60 | -17.00 |
| (all figures in Rs crore) NPA: Non-performing assets Data on NPA, deposits and advances is for ICICI Bank standalone | |||
On the assets side, retail loans now account for 43 per cent of ICICI Bank’s loan book, compared to 49 per cent a year ago. Within the Rs 79,000-crore retail loan portfolio, home loans account for 60 per cent. In March 2009, of the retail loan portfolio of Rs 106,200 crore, the share of housing loans was 54 per cent. The share of unsecured loans has dropped from 16 per cent at the end of March 2009 to 11 per cent now.
The share of retail NPAs in gross bad debt also declined to 67.23 per cent at the end of last March, compared to 71.93 per cent a year ago.
The subsidiaries managed to put up an improved showing due to an improvement in economic and stock market performance. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a profit after tax of Rs 258 crore, the first since the company’s inception in 2001. In the last financial year, the company’s losses were estimated at Rs 780 crore. Similarly, ICICI Lombard General’s profit after tax rose six-fold to Rs 144 crore for the year-ended March 2010, as against Rs 24 crore in 2008-09. ICICI Prudential AMC’s net rose from Rs 70 lakh in 2008-09 to Rs 128 crore last year. Similarly, ICICI Securities’ net profit went up nearly 31 times to Rs 123 crore during 2009-10, compared to Rs 4 crore in the previous financial year.
The bank said that its board has recommended a dividend of Rs 12 per share for 2009-10.
