ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest private lender and Dalal Street darling, is poised to announce strong second-quarter financial results, driven by robust loan growth, margin expansion and a reduction in the cost of credit. Let’s look at top brokers’ expectations for ICICI Bank’s performance this quarter:
- Motilal Oswal: Expects a 35.5% increase in net income to Rs 7,468.5 crore, driven by a 22% jump in net interest income. It forecasts healthy loan growth, with margins rising to 4.1%. It anticipates that the cost of credit will remain stable and expects moderate slippage. It highlights that asset quality will be a crucial point of observation.
- Kotak Securities: Projected a 15% increase in PPoP (preliminary operating income) year-on-year, with robust credit growth of around 21% driven across all segments. Expects an increase in net interest margin to >4%, mainly due to higher return on assets. Expects reserves to remain low due to lower slippage and better recovery/renewal trends.
- Axis Securities: Anticipates strong loan growth of around 23% year-on-year and an increase in net marginal interest margin to 4.1%. It expects the cost of credit to stabilize at normal levels and foresees a reduction in slippage, along with a greater recovery, which will improve asset quality.
- Nirmal Bang: Expects 19.8% increase in net interest income and 22.7% growth in profit after tax. It projected a 21.8% growth in the credit portfolio and an 11.8% increase in deposits.
- Philip Capital: Expects loan book momentum to continue and lending rate to increase to support net interest margin.
ICICI Bank is well positioned for another strong quarter, with its performance driven by a number of positive factors including loan growth and healthy margins.
