Jun 26, 2012, 12.00 PM IST

Strong fundamentals will support growth: ICICI's Kochhar

ICICI Bank's managing director Chanda Kochhar today said that strong fundamentals of the country would support growth over the medium to long term.

Source: PTI

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ICICI Bank 's managing director Chanda Kochhar today said that strong fundamentals of the country would support growth over the medium to long term.

Talking to newsmen after the annual general meeting of the the bank today, she said that there could be short term challenges facing the country but strong economic fundamentals would support robust growth over the medium to long term.

Talking about the bank's performance, she said the bank was able to achieve 26% growth in profit after tax at the standalone level and 25% at the consolidated level in fiscal 2012, the year which saw significant changes in the operating and regulatory environment.

She said that the bank has improved the share of low cost CASA deposits (current and saving account) from 28.7% as of March 2009 to 43.5% by March 2012.

The bank did well on the deposit front in 2012 fiscal despite tight systemic liquidity, high interest rates and changing competitive landscape, she observed. Bank's net interest margin has improved from 2.43% in fiscal 2009 to 2.73% in fiscal 2012 through focused efforts on both the asset and liquidity sides of the balance sheet, she said.

The Bank's net non-performing asset ratio stood at 0.62% as of March 2012.

A key strength of ICICI group franchise is its leadership position across various segments of financial services in India, she told shareholders.

Bank's insurance and mutual fund businesses are focuse on enhancing their market positioning and profitability while its private equity business continued to pursue new fund raising and unlocking value from the past investments.

She also informed that the securities and primary dealership business of the bank are strengthening their core franchise to deliver healthy returns.

The bank's international subsidiaries are repositioning their business in the changed global environment, with a clear path towards improving their profitability over the medium term, she said.