Axis Bank, ICICI Bank good bets in banking space: PN Vijay

Axis Bank and ICICI Bank are the good bets in banking space, says PN Vijay, Portfolio Manager, www.askpnvijay.com.

Vijay told CNBC-TV18, “I am not so gung-ho on PSU banks. I still put my extra money on the private banks. The PSU banks are very under-owned because everybody had cleaned their wallets or debits out and they all had a free fall. For example at Bank of Baroda used to be quoting around Rs 900 and it came all the way so I think Rs 630-640 so some amount of catching up – I still feel the current quarter will be tough for the PSU banks, their NIMs should be good but there would be still issues on asset quality.”
He further added, “Their improvement will come later because big things like the power restructuring for example would help them a lot. So maybe towards the end of this financial year, PSU banks will reflect some very decent balance sheet but till that time ofcourse this market is today buying high beta in some of PSU banks – put in that category, I would still put my bet on an Axis Bank or ICICI Bank where I have a much better call on the asset quality and I think all the banks would have a pretty good NIMs.”