ICICI Bank posts first-ever quarterly loss of Rs 1.2 billion on bad loans

Private sector lender ICICI Bank reported its first-ever loss amounting to Rs 1.2 billion for the June 2018 quarter (Q1) on Friday as provisions for bad loans doubled. The bank had made a net profit of Rs 20.49 billion in the same period last year.

The loss would have been higher if it weren’t for the Rs 11.1 billion profit on the sale of its 2 per cent stake in the life insurance arm, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

This was the first quarter after the bank’s MD and CEO, Chanda Kochhar, went on leave due to allegations of conflict of interest in a loan given to the Videocon group. ICICI group veteran Sandeep Bakhshi was appointed as whole-time director and chief operating officer (COO) for five years. He reports directly to the board in Kochhar’s absence.

On a standalone basis, the bank's net interest income (NII), or the interest earned minus interest expended, rose 9.2 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to Rs 61.02 billion in the current quarter, said the bank in a filing with the stock exchanges.

This was due to 11.3 per cent growth in net advances driven by a 20 per cent rise in retail advances.

Moreover, the share of retail advances in the entire loan book increased to 57.5 per cent as of June 2018 from 51.8 per cent in March 2017.

The net interest margin (NIM), at 3.19 per cent, was down 5 basis points (bps) sequentially and 8 bps YoY.

The NIM was aided by interest reversal on one of the NPA accounts, and the management expects NIMs to remain under pressure in the coming quarters.

ICICI Bank