Do banks look attractive post Q1? Angel Broking analyses

According to Agrawal, value buying in the Union Bank stock at Rs 160 levels is a good proposition. He also recommends a buy on Punjab National Bank (PNB) if the investor is looking at a timeframe of 18 to 24 months. As his top picks, Agrawal chooses ICICI Bank and Yes Bank .

Here is the edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18.

Q: You told us that you feared something about Union Bank because there is a new Chairman but I will come to that in a bit, first the good news, ICICI pleasant surprise?

A: Yes certainly, it's a surprise to the extent that it's more than numbers. But it's not a surprise that they have beaten because they have been doing it for a number of quarters now. In that sense again continuing with the good set of performance on operating and asset quality.

Also read: ICICI Bank Q1 beats forecast, net rises 36% to Rs 1815 cr

PNB Q1 net up 13% at Rs 1,246cr, misses forecast

Union Bank Q1 net disappoints, up 10% to Rs 512 cr

Q: What would you do with the stock now because it's already run up close to about 38% on an YTD basis? A: That is true but, it still remains a decent buy. It is one of the few islands of good performance in the banking space and the valuations are still not so demanding. So we keep our buy on ICICI Bank. It is one of our preferred picks.

Q: Would you worry a little bit because the absolute gross NPA has gone up maybe by about Rs 350-400 crore or that's not something you would look at?

A: The management had clearly been guiding that in this kind of an environment it would be unrealistic to expect consistent decline every quarter in NPAs. They prepared the market that there will be some amount of increase but, it will not be it will be clearly manageable and that is what they have done.

Q: So even at Rs 935 levels you have a buy on ICICI?

A: Yes, we do have a buy.