ICICI Bank approves fresh 6.5 lakh shares ESOP options; stock drops 1%

So far this year, the stock of this private sector lender has surged over 11 percent, outperforming 3 percent rise in the benchmark Nifty 50 index

Shares of ICICI Bank fell over 1 percent to Rs 1,108 per share on May 22 after the bank allotted 6.5 lakh equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each under the employee stock option plan (ESOP).

So far this year, the stock of this private sector lender has surged over 11 percent, outperforming a 3 percent rise in the benchmark Nifty 50 index. Earlier, ICICI Bank shares had hit 52-week high of Rs 1,169 per share on April 30, 2024.

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Earlier, ICICI Bank had alloted 1.67 lakh equity shares under ESOP on January 11, 2024.

Apart from that, ICICI Bank also approved appointment of Rajendra Khandelwal as the Group Chief Internal Auditor and senior management personnel effective June 1, 2024. Khandelwal will replace Anish Madhavan whose term as GCIA is due for completion on May 31, 2024.

With 29 years of banking and finance experience, Khandelwal handled significant responsibilities in the areas of taxation, wholesale banking planning, operating expense management, and accounts, ICICI Bank said in an exchange filing.

Earlier, ICICI Bank had clocked an 18.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit to Rs 11,672 crore in the January-March quarter (Q4FY24), while net interest income increased by 8.1 percent YoY to Rs 19,093 crore.

The lender's net NPA declined 2 bps to 0.42 percent from the previous year's 0.44 percent.

Following its Q4 results, brokerages maintained their bullish view on ICICI Bank. JM Financial reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock, with its target price of Rs 1,330 per share. They believe that the lender is poised to achieve an average return on asset (RoA) of 2.3 percent and return on equity (RoE) of 18.5 percent over FY25–26.

Similarly, CLSA has upheld its 'buy' rating and raised the target price to Rs 1,350 per share, while JP Morgan maintained its 'overweight' stance on ICICI Bank, with a target price of Rs 1,300 per share.

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