HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank top picks: Santosh Singh

Santosh Singh, analyst - BFSI at Societe Generale told CNBC-TV18, "Our top picks are HDFC Bank and even in the recent fall, ICICI Bank. These are two of our top picks. Our view is that the infra pick up which people have been talking about is not going to be as sharp as everyone had been expecting. In that particular scenario, HDFC Bank is one of the players which has not got that big an exposure to infra. If there is any revival in the economy, HDFC Bank has the retail book which is geared towards some cyclicals. It is not so much of a home loan company. So, it is the one which we like quite a lot.""We know what ICICI Bnak's exposures are. But at the same time, our view is that over a three year period, it is going to be 15-17 percent return on equity company. Definitely, the valuations and the underperformance is not entirely misplaced and it has underperformed quite significantly," he said. "Axis Bank has done better in terms of quality for last three years. They have done much better than ICICI Bank. But, the valuations, the way they have moved up, the gap between Axis Bank and ICICI Bank is almost like an all-time high. So, that is what makes me more bullish on ICICI Bank," he added.