ICICI Bank will continue expansion within risk-return threshold, says ED Sandeep Batra

ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank’s Executive Director Sandeep Batra on January 25 said the bank will continue to grow their domestic corporate loan book within risk and rewards threshold.

“Our focus has always been to grow within our risk and return thresholds while considering all available opportunities for serving our customers in a 360 degree manner,” Batra said during the post earnings conference call.

Batra also said that overall angle is corporate India has got multiple areas in which they can borrow from, which could well be from the markets. But, the bank is happy to serve them whenever they need borrowing.

In the October-December quarter, the domestic corporate portfolio grew by 13.2 percent year-on-year and 4.3 percent sequentially at December 31, 2024.

The domestic corporate portfolio increased to Rs 2.81 lakh crore in the reporting quarter, as compared to Rs 2.69 lakh crore in a quarter ago period, and Rs 2.48 lakh crore in a year ago period, according to the investor presentation.

Share of A- and above portfolio of corporate portfolio stood at 75.9 percent in October-December quarter, as compared to 77.5 percent in a quarter ago period, and 78.5 percent as on March 31, 2024. It was 80.6 percent as on March 31, 2023, investor presentation.

Further, share of BBB+,BBB, BBB-, increased to 23.4 percent as on December 31, 2024, as compared to 21.3 percent in a quarter ago period. It stood at 20.0 percent and 17.9 percent as on March 31, 2024, and March 31, 2023, respectively.

When asked about whether pricing is congenial for corporate loans, the bank refrained from making a specific guidance.

Retail growth slowest among other segments at around 10 percent and business was the fastest growing segment in the third quarter of the current financial year. The retail loan portfolio grew by 10.5% year-on-year in Q3FY25, and business banking portfolio grew by 31.9 percent year-on-year.

On the other hand, the rural portfolio grew by 12.2 percent year-on-year.

The lender has reported a net profit of Rs 11,792 crore in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, 15 percent higher than Rs 10,272 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The net interest income of the lender was at Rs 20,370.6 crore, higher than 9.1% percent from Rs 18,678 crore last year.

The net interest margin was 4.25 percent in Q3FY25 compared to 4.27 percent in Q2FY25 and 4.43 percent in Q3FY24.