ICICI Bank Limited — Q4 FY26

ICICI Bank Ltd Q4 FY2025-26 Earnings Conference Call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5UougIGWyc Published: 3 weeks ago

0:00 Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to ICA Bank Limited Q4 FI26 earnings conference call. As a reminder, 0:09 9 seconds all participant lines will be in the listenon mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should 0:17 17 seconds you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that 0:24 24 seconds this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sundep Bakshi, managing director and chief executive officer of ICICA bank. Thank you and over to you sir. 0:36 36 seconds Thank you. Good evening to all of you and welcome to the ICICA bank earnings call to discuss the results for Q4 of uh FI 2026. 0:48 48 seconds Joining us today on this call are Sepatra, Rakkesh, Ajay, Ananda and Abhin. 0:54 54 seconds At ICA Bank, our strategic focus continues to be on growing profit before tax excluding treasury through the 360deree customer- centering approach 1:03 1 minute, 3 seconds and by serving opportunities across ecosystems and micro markets. We continue to operate within the framework of our values to strengthen our 1:11 1 minute, 11 seconds franchise. Maintaining high standards of governance, deepening coverage and enhancing delivery [clears throat] capabilities with a focus on simplicity 1:18 1 minute, 18 seconds and operational resilience are key drivers for a risk calibrated profitable growth. 1:25 1 minute, 25 seconds The profit before tax excluding treasury grew by 10.1% yearonear to 182.09 1:33 1 minute, 33 seconds billion rupees in this quarter and by 7.1% yearonear to 650.21 21 billion rupees in FI 2026. 1:44 1 minute, 44 seconds The core operating profit increased by 5.1% yearonear to 183.05 billion rupees 1:50 1 minute, 50 seconds in this quarter and by 7.7% yearonear to 704.01 billion rupees in FY 2026. 2:00 2 minutes The profit after tax grew by 8.5% yearonear to 137.02 billion rupees in 2:06 2 minutes, 6 seconds this quarter and by 6.2% 2% yearonear to 501.47 billion rupees in financial year 2026. 2:14 2 minutes, 14 seconds The consolidated profit after tax grew by 9% yearonear to 147.55 billion rupees in this quarter and by 6.2% yearonear to 2:24 2 minutes, 24 seconds 542.08 billion rupees in FI 2026. The board has recommended a dividend of 12 2:31 2 minutes, 31 seconds rupees per share for FI 2026 subject to requisite approvals. 2:36 2 minutes, 36 seconds Total deposits grew by 11.5 11.4% year-onear and 8.1% sequentially at 2:43 2 minutes, 43 seconds March 31, 2026. Average current and savings account deposits grew by 11.3% yearonear and 2.7% sequentially during 2:52 2 minutes, 52 seconds this quarter. The bank's average LCR for the quarter was about 126%. 2:59 2 minutes, 59 seconds The overall loan portfolio, including the international branches portfolio, grew by 15.8% 8% yearonear and 6% sequentially at March 31, 2026. 3:10 3 minutes, 10 seconds The retail loan portfolio grew by 9.5% year-on-year and 4.2% sequentially. 3:16 3 minutes, 16 seconds Including non-fund based outstanding, the retail portfolio was 41.7% of the total portfolio. The rural 3:24 3 minutes, 24 seconds portfolio including gold loan grew by 20 25.6% yearonear and 18% sequentially. 3:31 3 minutes, 31 seconds The business banking portfolio grew by 24.4 4% year-on-year and 7.6% sequentially. 3:39 3 minutes, 39 seconds The domestic corporate portfolio grew by 9% yearonear and 3.1% sequentially. 3:44 3 minutes, 44 seconds [clears throat] 3:44 3 minutes, 44 seconds The domestic loan portfolio grew by 15.3% yearonear and 5.6% sequentially at March 31, 2026. The overseas loan 3:54 3 minutes, 54 seconds portfolio was 2.7% of the overall loan book at March 31, 2026. The net NP ratio was 0.33% at 4:03 4 minutes, 3 seconds March 31, 2026 compared to 0.37% at December 31,25 4:11 4 minutes, 11 seconds and 0.39% at March 31, 2025. The total provisions during the quarter were 0.96 4:19 4 minutes, 19 seconds billion rupees or 0.5% of core operating profit and 0.03% of average advances. 4:27 4 minutes, 27 seconds The provisioning coverage ratio on non-performing loans was 75.8% at March 31, 2026. In addition, the bank 4:35 4 minutes, 35 seconds continues to hold contingency provisions of 131 billion rupees or about.9% of total advances at March 31, 2026. 4:44 4 minutes, 44 seconds The capital position of the bank continued to be strong with a C1 ratio of 16.35% and total CA capital adequacy of 17.18% 4:54 4 minutes, 54 seconds at March 3126 after reckoning the impact of proposed dividend. Looking ahead, we see many 5:01 5 minutes, 1 second profit opportunities to drive risk calibrated profitable growth and grow market share across key segments. We remain focused on maintaining a strong 5:10 5 minutes, 10 seconds balance sheet, prudent provisioning and healthy levels of capital while delivering sustainable and predictable returns to our shareholders. I now hand the call over to Anand. 5:20 5 minutes, 20 seconds [clears throat] Thank you Sep. Uh I will talk about loan growth, credit quality, P&L details, portfolio trends and the 5:27 5 minutes, 27 seconds performance of subsidiaries. Sep covered the loan growth across various segments. 5:32 5 minutes, 32 seconds Coming to the growth across retail products, the mortgage portfolio grew by 13.2% 2% yearonear and 4.7% 5:39 5 minutes, 39 seconds sequentially. Auto loans grew by 1.7% yearonear and 1.4% sequentially. The commercial vehicles and equipment 5:48 5 minutes, 48 seconds portfolio grew by 11.6% yearonear and 6.4% sequentially. 5:53 5 minutes, 53 seconds Personal loans grew by 7.2% yearonear and 5.2% sequentially. The credit card portfolio declined by 5.6% 6% year-on-year and 1.3% sequentially. 6:06 6 minutes, 6 seconds Within the corporate portfolio, the total outstanding to NBFCs and HFC's was 859.04 billion rupees at March 31, 2026 6:16 6 minutes, 16 seconds compared to 791.18 billion rupees at December 31, 2025. Uh the total outstanding loans to NBFCs and 6:25 6 minutes, 25 seconds HFCs were about 4.6% of our advances at March 31, 2026. 6:31 6 minutes, 31 seconds The builder portfolio including construction finance, lease, rental, discounting, term loans and working capital was 714.21 6:40 6 minutes, 40 seconds billion rupees at March 31, 2026 compared to 680.83 billion rupees at December 31, 2025. 6:49 6 minutes, 49 seconds Uh the builder loan portfolio was 4.2% of our total loan portfolio. Our portfolio largely comprises wellestablished builders and 6:58 6 minutes, 58 seconds [clears throat] this is also reflected in the sequential increase in the portfolio. About 0.9% of the builder portfolio at March 31, 2026 was either 7:08 7 minutes, 8 seconds rated doubleb and below internally or was classified as non-performing. 7:13 7 minutes, 13 seconds Uh on credit quality, the gross NPA additions were 42.42 billion rupees in the current quarter compared to 51.42 42 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 7:24 7 minutes, 24 seconds Recoveries and upgrades from gross NPA excluding write offs and sale were 30.68 billion rupees in the current quarter 7:32 7 minutes, 32 seconds compared to 38.17 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. The net additions to gross NPA were 11.74 billion rupees in the 7:41 7 minutes, 41 seconds current quarter compared to 13.25 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 7:47 7 minutes, 47 seconds The gross empty additions from the retail and rural portfolios were 31.45 billion rupees in the current quarter 7:55 7 minutes, 55 seconds compared to 43.39 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. Recoveries and upgrades from the retail and rural portfolios 8:02 8 minutes, 2 seconds were 22.93 billion rupees in the current quarter compared to 30.39 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. The net additions to 8:11 8 minutes, 11 seconds gross NPA in the retail and rural portfolios were 8.52 billion rupees in the current quarter compared to 13 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 8:22 8 minutes, 22 seconds The gross NP additions from the corporate and business banking portfolios were 10.97 billion rupees in the current quarter compared to 8.03 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 8:34 8 minutes, 34 seconds Recoveries and upgrades from the corporate and business banking portfolios were 7.75 billion rupees in the current quarter compared to 7.78 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 8:46 8 minutes, 46 seconds There were [clears throat] net additions to gross NPA of 30 of 3.22 billion rupees in the current quarter in the corporate and business banking 8:53 8 minutes, 53 seconds portfolios compared to 0.25 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. The gross NPS written off during the quarter was 17.68 9:02 9 minutes, 2 seconds 68 billion rupees. Further, there was sale of NPA of 1.12 billion rupees for cash. In the current quarter, the non-f 9:10 9 minutes, 10 seconds fund outstanding to borrowers classified as non-performing was 21.74 billion rupees as of March 31st, 2026 9:19 9 minutes, 19 seconds as compared to 22.29 billion rupees as of December 31, 2025. 9:25 9 minutes, 25 seconds The loans and non-fund outstanding to performing corporate borrowers rated doubleB and below was 35.19 billion 9:32 9 minutes, 32 seconds rupees at March 31, 2026 as compared to 33.92 billion rupees at December 31, 9:40 9 minutes, 40 seconds 2025. This portfolio was about 0.2% of our advances at March 31, 2026. 9:48 9 minutes, 48 seconds The total fund-based outstanding to all standard borrowers under resolution as per various guidelines declined to 14.96 9:56 9 minutes, 56 seconds billion rupees at March 31, 2026 from 16.66 billion rupees at December 31, 2025. 10:06 10 minutes, 6 seconds At the end of March, the total provisions other than specific provisions on fund based outstanding to borrowers classified as non-performing 10:14 10 minutes, 14 seconds were 227.1 billion rupees or 1.5% of loans. This includes [clears throat] the contingency 10:21 10 minutes, 21 seconds provisions of 131 billion rupees as well as general provision on standard assets provisions held for non-fund based 10:28 10 minutes, 28 seconds outstanding to borrowers classified as non-performing fund and non-fund based outstanding to standard borrowers under 10:35 10 minutes, 35 seconds resolution and the doubleb and below portfolio. The bank also continues to hold additional standard asset provision 10:43 10 minutes, 43 seconds of 12.83 83 billion rupees made in Q3 as directed by RBI in respect of the agricultural priority sector portfolio. 10:52 10 minutes, 52 seconds Moving on to the P&L details, net interest income increased by 8.4% year-onear and 4.8% sequentially to 11:00 11 minutes 229.79 billion rupees in this quarter. The net interest margin was 4.32% in this quarter compared [clears throat] to 11:09 11 minutes, 9 seconds 4.30% in the previous quarter. The cost of deposits was 4.43% in this quarter compared to 4.55% in the previous 11:18 11 minutes, 18 seconds quarter. The benefit of interest on tax refund was five basis points in the current quarter compared to one basis 11:26 11 minutes, 26 seconds point in the previous quarter. The margins for the quarter reflect the impact of external benchmark linked loans repricing repricing of term 11:34 11 minutes, 34 seconds deposits and seasonally lower interest reversal on the KCC portfolio. The net interest margin in FI 2026 was 4.32% similar to FI 2025. 11:47 11 minutes, 47 seconds Of the total domestic loans, interest rates on about 56% of the loans are linked to the repo rate and other external benchmarks, 13% to MCLR and 11:56 11 minutes, 56 seconds other older benchmarks and the remaining 31% of loans have fixed interest rates. 12:02 12 minutes, 2 seconds Non-interest income excluding Treasury grew by 5.6% 6% yearonear to 74.15 billion rupees in Q4 of uh fiscal 2026. 12:13 12 minutes, 13 seconds P income increased by 7.5% yearonear to 60 67.79 billion rupees in this quarter. Fees 12:21 12 minutes, 21 seconds from retail, rural and business banking customers constituted about 78% of the total fees in this quarter. 12:29 12 minutes, 29 seconds Dividend income from subsidiaries was 6.31 billion rupees in this quarter compared to 6.75 billion rupees in Q4 of 12:36 12 minutes, 36 seconds last year. On costs, the bank's operating expenses increased by 12% yearonear in this quarter and 11.5% 12:45 12 minutes, 45 seconds year-on-year in FY 2026. Employee expenses increased by 8.8% yearonear and 12:52 12 minutes, 52 seconds non-employee expenses increased by 14% yearonear in this quarter. 12:56 12 minutes, 56 seconds uh our branch count has increased by 126 in Q4 and 528 in FY 2026. We had 7,511 branches as of March 31st, 2026. 13:09 13 minutes, 9 seconds The sequential increase in operating expenses primarily reflects the impact of market movements resulting in higher provisions for retireal benefits. The 13:18 13 minutes, 18 seconds technology expenses were about 11% of our operating expenses in FY 2026. 13:24 13 minutes, 24 seconds The total provisions during the quarter were 0.96 billion rupees or 0.5% of core operating profit and 0.03% 13:33 13 minutes, 33 seconds of average advances compared to the provisions of 8.91 billion rupees in group four of last year reflecting 13:41 13 minutes, 41 seconds healthy asset quality and higher recoveries and writebacks. The credit cost was 38 basis points in FY2026. 13:50 13 minutes, 50 seconds Adjusted for the additional standard asset provision in respect of the agricultural port uh priority sector portfolio and the corporate recoveries. 13:58 13 minutes, 58 seconds The credit costs was under 50 basis points in fiscal 2026. 14:05 14 minutes, 5 seconds The profit before tax excluding treasury grew by 10.1% yearonear to 182.09 09 billion rupees in Q4 and by 7.1% 14:14 14 minutes, 14 seconds yearonear to 650.21 billion rupees in FI 2026. 14:19 14 minutes, 19 seconds Uh there was a treasury loss of 1.06 06 billion rupees in this quarter as compared to a loss of 1.57 billion 14:26 14 minutes, 26 seconds rupees in the previous quarter and a gain of 2.99 billion rupees in Q4 of last year primarily reflecting market 14:34 14 minutes, 34 seconds movements and including the impact of capping of FX net open positions in the onshore market as per recent RBI guidelines. 14:44 14 minutes, 44 seconds The tax expense was 44.01 billion rupees in this quarter compared to 41.43 40 billion rupees in the corresponding 14:52 14 minutes, 52 seconds quarter last year. The profit after tax grew by 8.5% yearonear to uh 137.02 15:00 15 minutes billion rupees in this quarter. The profit after tax grew by 6.2% yearonear to 501.47 billion rupees in FY 2026. 15:11 15 minutes, 11 seconds The consolidated profit after tax grew by 9.3% year-onear to 147.55 billion rupees in this quarter. The consolidated 15:20 15 minutes, 20 seconds profit after tax grew by 6.2% yearonear to 542.08 billion rupees in FI 2026. 15:28 15 minutes, 28 seconds The details of the financial performance of key subsidies are covered in slides 33 to 35 and 54 to 59 in the investor 15:36 15 minutes, 36 seconds presentation. The annualized premium equivalent of ICI life increased to 106.41 billion rupees in FI 2026 from 104.07 07 billion rupees in FYI 2025. 15:51 15 minutes, 51 seconds The value of new business increased to 26.29 billion rupees in FYI 2026 from 23.70 billion rupees in FYI 2025. 16:01 16 minutes, 1 second The value of new business margin was 24.7% in FI 2026 compared to 22.8% in FY 16:09 16 minutes, 9 seconds 2025. The profit after tax of IC life increased to 16 billion rupees in FI 2026 from 11.89 billion rupees in FI 16:19 16 minutes, 19 seconds 2025 and 6.09 billion rupees in this quarter from 3.86 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. 16:29 16 minutes, 29 seconds The gross direct premium income of ICICA general increased to 287.12 billion rupees in FYI 2026 from 268.33 16:39 16 minutes, 39 seconds billion rupees in FI 2025. The combined ratios to 103.4% 16:45 16 minutes, 45 seconds in FI 2026 compared to 102.8% in FI 2025. The profit after tax increased to 16:52 16 minutes, 52 seconds 27.72 billion rupees in FI 2026 from 25.08 08 billion rupees in FI 2025. Uh 17:01 17 minutes, 1 second the profit after tax increased to 5.7 47 billion rupees in this quarter from 5.1 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. The 17:09 17 minutes, 9 seconds profit after tax of ICA AMC as per NDS increased to 7.63 billion rupees in this quarter from 6.92 billion rupees in Q4 17:19 17 minutes, 19 seconds of last year. The profit after tax of ICS securities as per INDS on a consolidated basis was 4.22 billion 17:28 17 minutes, 28 seconds rupees in this quarter compared to 3.81 billion rupees in Q4 of last year. Isia Bank Canada had a profit after tax of 17:37 17 minutes, 37 seconds 4.4 4 million Canadian dollars in this quarter compared to 12.5 million Canadian dollars in Q4 of last year, 17:44 17 minutes, 44 seconds primarily reflecting the impact of reduction in benchmark interest rates and lower business volumes. ICSA Bank UK 17:52 17 minutes, 52 seconds had a profit after tax of 8 million US in this quarter compared to $6 million US in Q4 of last year. As per NDS, ICA 18:02 18 minutes, 2 seconds Home Finance had a profit after tax of 2.49 billion rupees in the current quarter. compared to 2.41 billion rupees 18:09 18 minutes, 9 seconds in Q4 of last year. With this we conclude our opening remarks and we will now be happy to take your questions. 18:16 18 minutes, 16 seconds Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. 18:26 18 minutes, 26 seconds If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies 18:36 18 minutes, 36 seconds and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. 18:42 18 minutes, 42 seconds We'll take a first question from the line of Jen Karote from Access Capital. Please go ahead. 18:48 18 minutes, 48 seconds Uh thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on uh first question is on sorry can you use your handset mode please? Your audio is not very clear. 19:00 19 minutes Yes. Hello. Am I available now? Yes, please go ahead. 19:06 19 minutes, 6 seconds Uh, thank you for the opportunity. The first question is on the I'm sorry his line is disconnected. 19:14 19 minutes, 14 seconds We'll move on to the next question from the line of Kunal Sha from Siri Group. Please go ahead. 19:22 19 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah. Uh, so uh thanks for taking the question. So the first question is uh on the growth side uh so particularly on 19:31 19 minutes, 31 seconds retail we had seen the good uptake out there particularly when we look at the mortgages it's been up like almost uh uh 19:38 19 minutes, 38 seconds 4.7 odd percent. And we had seen the uptick even on the PL as well as uh uh the commercial vehicle side. So uh on 19:47 19 minutes, 47 seconds budgies is it like uh the competition is coming off the sides are getting attractive uh otherwise we have always 19:55 19 minutes, 55 seconds focused on uh uh on our way. So what is actually driving uh this growth on the 20:02 20 minutes, 2 seconds mortgage side in particular port uh and uh the second question is on deposit. Deposits still seems to be uh 20:10 20 minutes, 10 seconds slightly slower compared to that of the longer than we have been moving the markets here. uh maybe a couple of years where we have gained quite a bit of 20:19 20 minutes, 19 seconds market share on uh castle and all but I think now the overall positive growth is uh lower than the system. So what would 20:26 20 minutes, 26 seconds be our stance on the overall positive growth getting into uh the next year? 20:34 20 minutes, 34 seconds So first on the growth in mortgages uh I think uh as we may have discussed in the past uh you know we uh maybe if we look 20:42 20 minutes, 42 seconds back uh [clears throat] two to three quarters ago we were probably holding back a little because of both the 20:50 20 minutes, 50 seconds benchmark risk and the spreads over the benchmark. I think as the benchmark has settled it has given us uh the space to 20:57 20 minutes, 57 seconds grow that portfolio. uh and that is what you have seen over the last uh you know two quarters and more particularly uh in 21:06 21 minutes, 6 seconds this quarter and uh we continue to it is of course a competitive market but we are within that trying to uh operate and 21:15 21 minutes, 15 seconds uh you know price appropriately across the spectrum also focusing very much on the uh entire customer 360 aspect which 21:24 21 minutes, 24 seconds we do uh in all our businesses uh on the deposit side I I think uh you know while uh the uh the you know the it 21:33 21 minutes, 33 seconds looks like a loan growth of 15% and a deposit growth of 11% on an average uh basis they they are pretty closely 21:41 21 minutes, 41 seconds matched. I mean average deposit growth would also be uh very similar to the period end deposit growth while average loan growth would be you know closer to 21:49 21 minutes, 49 seconds the average deposit growth. uh so uh you know if you look at it from an LCR perspective also we are continue to be 21:57 21 minutes, 57 seconds very comfortable at about 125% uh average for the quarter uh so uh you know we we are quite comfortable on the 22:04 22 minutes, 4 seconds deposit side and uh uh kasa ratios are also holding up well so uh you know that that should support a healthy level of 22:13 22 minutes, 13 seconds loan growth sorry so you mentioned it's so average deposit growth is almost 10.8% 8%. Okay. 22:20 22 minutes, 20 seconds So you mean to say that maybe if the average loan growing uh that 22:28 22 minutes, 28 seconds yeah in that the gap would not be like a 11 to 15 gap. It will be a lower gap and that 22:35 22 minutes, 35 seconds much uh is fine and on overall liquidity and LCR basis we are pretty comfortable. 22:42 22 minutes, 42 seconds So deposit growth is not uh you know something that will constrain us from pursuing loan growth. Deposit growth you 22:51 22 minutes, 51 seconds know the deposit flows are more than adequate and healthy. 22:56 22 minutes, 56 seconds Sure. And lastly in terms of the provisioning uh so when we look at the overall uh provisioning quite uh low 23:02 23 minutes, 2 seconds during the quarter. So were there any uh ridebacks which have happened or release which have been there during the quarter? maybe the overall recovery is 23:11 23 minutes, 11 seconds uh still seems to be pretty much in line with the last quarter. Uh but was there any provisioning released in any of the line items? 23:20 23 minutes, 20 seconds So I think a couple of things uh on the provisioning side one if you look at uh even the even on a yearon-year basis on 23:29 23 minutes, 29 seconds the retail side the net additions are lower and uh in particular over the last few quarters the uh additions on to NPS 23:38 23 minutes, 38 seconds on the unsecured side which get provided pretty aggressively have been coming down. uh so that has you know brought 23:46 23 minutes, 46 seconds down the the provisioning uh requirements even on the retail side plus uh I would say we had a somewhat 23:53 23 minutes, 53 seconds higher uh level of recoveries and writebacks uh on the corporate portfolio in including recoveries from writtenoff 24:02 24 minutes, 2 seconds accounts uh which has uh you know uh resulted in the provisioning for this quarter being at at a pretty low level 24:10 24 minutes, 10 seconds uh overall for the year as we said on the all uh we were at uh you know 38 basis points uh and and if we kind of 24:19 24 minutes, 19 seconds adjust out the the uh the uh one-time KCC provision and also the um uh the you 24:27 24 minutes, 27 seconds know corporate recoveries we would be you know below 50 basis points. So the underlying credit cost remains you know pretty stable. 24:36 24 minutes, 36 seconds Okay. So maybe for Q4 nothing in particular maybe we are readying to full here but uh Q4 because if I look at 24:43 24 minutes, 43 seconds recoveries in corporate and business banking it seems to be almost similar at uh 750 775 odd crores so nothing appears 24:51 24 minutes, 51 seconds to be there in terms of higher recoveries in Q4 in corporate so that's so that's the recovery from the gross NPS as I said we would have 24:58 24 minutes, 58 seconds also a recovery from the written off accounts that get uh uh you know that that gets netted off in 25:06 25 minutes, 6 seconds provision line item that would have been on the somewhat higher side in this quarter. 25:11 25 minutes, 11 seconds Got it. That helps. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks and all the best. Yeah. 25:15 25 minutes, 15 seconds Thank you. Next question is from the line of Nitan Agarwal from Otil. Please go ahead. 25:22 25 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah. Hi. Uh good evening and congrats on strong performance once again. Uh the first question Anend is on the fee 25:29 25 minutes, 29 seconds income growth. Uh how do you look at this over the coming year? what steps are we taking to drive uh better traction on this line? 25:41 25 minutes, 41 seconds So I I you know we do I I guess if we look at the broad areas of uh fee income 25:48 25 minutes, 48 seconds that we focus on I think on the uh transaction banking uh in which I would include both all the trade aspects as 25:57 25 minutes, 57 seconds well as uh forex and derivatives and on the uh you know say the deposit account 26:03 26 minutes, 3 seconds linked fees deposits demat etc. I think we have we are doing uh reasonably well. 26:10 26 minutes, 10 seconds Uh on the cards and payment side this year has been a little slow. We have not grown uh as much there on in terms of 26:18 26 minutes, 18 seconds fees and that would be one area uh for us to focus on. uh I think more recently as the loan growth has uh picked up the 26:27 26 minutes, 27 seconds lending linked fees have also picked up and uh we will hopefully see that momentum sustain going forward but this 26:35 26 minutes, 35 seconds is something we'll have to keep uh calibrating okay and uh uh like can you also give 26:43 26 minutes, 43 seconds some color as to what has been the impact from RBI's recent uh foreign currency control regulations that they came up with in respect to the net open 26:50 26 minutes, 50 seconds position and the NDF regulations as to how much has been the impact on the other income and any losses that we have incurred because of that this quarter. 27:00 27 minutes So we have a net treasury loss of 1.6 06 billion rupees uh that includes uh you 27:07 27 minutes, 7 seconds know uh that's after taking into account the impact of uh the mark to market as of March 31st on the uh the uh the the 27:17 27 minutes, 17 seconds the net the swaps the forwards. So that's factored into those numbers. 27:26 27 minutes, 26 seconds Okay. Okay. Sure. And uh the last question is around uh the growth. We have seen a very strong pick up in the system numbers. Even IC Bank in the last 27:34 27 minutes, 34 seconds two quarters have picked up very well on on the growth front. Um how do you look at this momentum going into FI27? 27:41 27 minutes, 41 seconds Is is this like something that you will think that will pick steam further or is it kind of uh has already reached the 27:50 27 minutes, 50 seconds high point? I mean overall uh the growth will broadbase from here further in respect to unsecured loans and some of 27:57 27 minutes, 57 seconds the other segments which are not contributing like mortgage started to pick up now or you think that 16 odd% growth where we are right now is is like 28:05 28 minutes, 5 seconds the on on already on the upper end that we are looking at. 28:12 28 minutes, 12 seconds I won't you know we wouldn't get into giving a growth number. Uh I think that post all the measures that were taken at 28:19 28 minutes, 19 seconds a policy level through last year uh and from our own side I think uh with some 28:26 28 minutes, 26 seconds of the factors like the interest rates stabilizing uh benchmark stabilizing growth has has picked up and uh you know 28:35 28 minutes, 35 seconds the economy general outlook on the economy has been quite positive. Of course, more recently uh since March uh 28:43 28 minutes, 43 seconds the conflict in West Asia has clouded the outlook in the sense that it has created some amount of uncertainty. But 28:51 28 minutes, 51 seconds uh from our side, I think we believe we have a strong franchise uh very healthy capital levels uh and strong funding and 28:59 28 minutes, 59 seconds liquidity. So we would want to leverage that to grow the business uh within our uh you know parameters of risk acceptance. 29:08 29 minutes, 8 seconds Right. And uh sorry if I can squeeze one more and especially on the credit co cost line wherein I think everybody has 29:16 29 minutes, 16 seconds been waiting for some normalization some uptick in credit cost in the banking system and yet we have reported a sharp improvement here again while our 29:24 29 minutes, 24 seconds guidance remains below 50 basis point but uh in terms of your own confidence and assessment do you feel more confident now versus how things were in 29:33 29 minutes, 33 seconds the prior years because our guidance in general has been sub 50 over the So how do you see like and compare this 29:40 29 minutes, 40 seconds now versus versus the what we have guided in the past. 29:44 29 minutes, 44 seconds So I would think if you look at the different segments of the business I think the corporate sector uh is pretty 29:52 29 minutes, 52 seconds strong and uh they are well funded with healthy balance sheets and uh significant resilience I would say. uh 30:01 30 minutes, 1 second and on the retail side I think uh banks uh including us have been uh reasonably uh sensible about credit selection and 30:10 30 minutes, 10 seconds uh the customers have also uh you know the have have uh uh held up well. We had 30:17 30 minutes, 17 seconds maybe a year year and a half or two years ago some increase in delinquencies on the personal loan side but with 30:25 30 minutes, 25 seconds regulatory action and with the steps taken by banks that also was fairly quickly contained. Um so that is showing 30:33 30 minutes, 33 seconds up in these very uh healthy credit numbers and uh uh you know while there are these uh externalities to be 30:42 30 minutes, 42 seconds monitored we don't uh at the moment see any cause for concern as such. Uh the the other portfolio which is you know 30:50 30 minutes, 50 seconds reasonably large now and has grown rapidly over the last few years is the whole business banking uh portfolio. uh 30:57 30 minutes, 57 seconds and again uh one would have to monitor any potential impact of uh the uh external events on that but I would say 31:06 31 minutes, 6 seconds that that is a portfolio at least to the extent that we have a track record has been tested through covid the energy 31:13 31 minutes, 13 seconds dislocation of uh you know 2022 and uh then the whole tariff issue and has held up reasonably well. So uh that gives us 31:22 31 minutes, 22 seconds uh some degree of confidence that we will monitor it as we go along. Right. 31:27 31 minutes, 27 seconds Thanks Anja. Thanks for all the insights. Wish you all the best. 31:31 31 minutes, 31 seconds Thank you. Next question is from Maruk Ajania from Tara Capital. Please go ahead. 31:38 31 minutes, 38 seconds Yeah. Hi, congratulations. Uh I had a couple of questions. Uh firstly um after 31:45 31 minutes, 45 seconds this war would you have tightened any credit parameter uh or any credit rule going into FY27 31:54 31 minutes, 54 seconds or its business as usual or growth as usual across segments even small segments. So that's my first question. 32:02 32 minutes, 2 seconds Secondly if you see your yield on advances what you've reported in the presentation that's been coming off over 32:10 32 minutes, 10 seconds the last two quarters. Of course there have been the impact of rate cuts as well. Uh but can we say that yields have 32:18 32 minutes, 18 seconds now bottomed because uh your cost of funds has also come down materially. So uh and I believe most of the repricing 32:26 32 minutes, 26 seconds is uh done there. So in terms of yield is this now close to the bottom? That's uh that's my second question. 32:38 32 minutes, 38 seconds So on the first question side of course we have uh you know uh looked at and continue to look at regularly all the 32:45 32 minutes, 45 seconds potential sectoral impact as well as the impact at a client level. uh I would not say that we have specifically tightened 32:52 32 minutes, 52 seconds anything or are are excluding any segment but you know we h we have our understanding of uh which are the 32:59 32 minutes, 59 seconds segments that are potentially need require closer monitoring and and we are doing that and we will calibrate you know our actions as we go along. Uh 33:08 33 minutes, 8 seconds overall I think uh as I said we are continuing to uh focus on growing the business. Um on the yield I think we 33:17 33 minutes, 17 seconds have of course you know this quarter seen the impact of the December repo cut and uh uh we will you know 33:27 33 minutes, 27 seconds we we'll just have to as we go along look at how incremental pricing etc play out in the market and you know we'll 33:34 33 minutes, 34 seconds have some maybe amount of depository pricing also. uh so I I guess at a margin level we continue to look at sort 33:42 33 minutes, 42 seconds of rangebound margins uh unlikely to move up but uh uh should be broadly in this range is what we would think. 33:52 33 minutes, 52 seconds Got it. And I just have one last question. You explained the decline in credit cost. Uh was it more driven by 34:00 34 minutes unsecured slippage coming down or more by corporate slippage this quarter? Uh I mean more by corporate recoveries. No. 34:07 34 minutes, 7 seconds So the this quarter of course we saw higher level of of recoveries uh and ridebacks on the corporate uh portfolio 34:16 34 minutes, 16 seconds uh including uh recoveries from written off accounts but in general the retail credit costs as you can see from the retail net additions itself have been 34:25 34 minutes, 25 seconds coming down. So the retail credit costs have also been coming down and within that you know the unsecured has been 34:32 34 minutes, 32 seconds moderating. uh uh so you know secured was anyway pretty stable so that is having a beneficial impact on the provisions. 34:42 34 minutes, 42 seconds Okay, perfect. Thanks. Thanks a lot. 34:46 34 minutes, 46 seconds Thank you. Next question is from the line of Shashadri Sen from MK Global. Please go ahead. 34:56 34 minutes, 56 seconds Your line is unmuted. Yes. 34:58 34 minutes, 58 seconds Thank you for the opportunity. Uh I have a couple of questions. One is uh for the second successive quarter your credit card book is contracting. Is that just 35:07 35 minutes, 7 seconds the nature of the business seasonal or are you taking any interventions in terms of trying to boost profitability and overall if you could comment on how 35:16 35 minutes, 16 seconds the profitability of the credit card business is trending because you know uh revolver rates are coming down cost of 35:23 35 minutes, 23 seconds acquisition seems to be moving up a little bit. 35:28 35 minutes, 28 seconds So uh you know I think the in Q3 the decline we saw was really seasonal because there was a sharp buildup of the 35:35 35 minutes, 35 seconds book towards the end of Q2 due to the festive season spend which ran off uh in Q3. Uh the the small decline from in the 35:44 35 minutes, 44 seconds fourth quarter I would say you know we can't really say that it is seasonal. Uh it is really a function of uh spends and 35:52 35 minutes, 52 seconds revolvers. uh from our perspective I think we we are focused on you know uh growing the business and growing it with 36:00 36 minutes the right set of customers uh in a in a profitable way. Uh and uh we uh have been seeing reasonably steady uh new 36:10 36 minutes, 10 seconds customer acquisition. Uh I think the level of revolvers etc is has been an issue for the industry. So that is something that we'll have to deal with. 36:18 36 minutes, 18 seconds But we are we would hope to see better numbers uh in terms of growth and as uh I mentioned when uh prior quest uh one 36:27 36 minutes, 27 seconds of the analysts earlier asked about fees uh on the fees as well uh profitability I think yes I mean at a at a very high 36:36 36 minutes, 36 seconds level if you look at over the last few years the decline in the level of revolvers has impacted profitability but 36:44 36 minutes, 44 seconds it still remains a very profitable business and it is a business with many levers of profitability uh you know 36:52 36 minutes, 52 seconds including uh you know the uh the kind of co on the cost side reward side etc. So 37:00 37 minutes I think those you know we keep tweaking those uh as well. uh so overall I think it's a business plan would you know 37:07 37 minutes, 7 seconds continue to have a very strong focus on thanks and uh my second question is on 37:14 37 minutes, 14 seconds the corporate uh loan outlook uh both tactically in the short term while the the energy crisis and the war is on and 37:23 37 minutes, 23 seconds uh al also from a psycho medium perspective what do you what are your growth aspirations what are the key drivers are there any particular segments that you're looking that. 37:35 37 minutes, 35 seconds So I think you know we are very focused on the counterparty uh and in terms of 37:42 37 minutes, 42 seconds uh uh the the quality and the overall business opportunity. I think uh you know our funnels are open and we are in 37:50 37 minutes, 50 seconds a constant dialogue with the clients and wherever uh there is a you know a level at which which where it makes sense both 37:58 37 minutes, 58 seconds for the client and the bank you know the business happens. over the last two quarters we have seen a reasonably good 38:04 38 minutes, 4 seconds accretion to the corporate book and uh I we are we continue to see opportunities going ahead uh and uh I think uh with 38:13 38 minutes, 13 seconds the with the you know uh the the the better rated clients uh we will look through any uh any short-term issues 38:21 38 minutes, 21 seconds arising out of this uh this crisis and and see what how we can work with them 38:28 38 minutes, 28 seconds over the longer term Thank you so much. 38:35 38 minutes, 35 seconds Thank you. 38:37 38 minutes, 37 seconds We'll take our next question from the line of Rakin Sha from IFL Capital. Please go ahead. Hi, good evening. Uh a few questions. 38:46 38 minutes, 46 seconds First one is on OPEX. So the OPEX growth about at 11 and a half% this year has been higher than uh the peers. Um 38:54 38 minutes, 54 seconds perhaps due to the increase in the average remuneration for the employees. 38:58 38 minutes, 58 seconds So how should we think about it going into next year especially when your volume growth is also picking up. So does this further uh rise in terms of 39:06 39 minutes, 6 seconds the overall OPEX growth or there are certain levers to bring that down. So that's one. Uh second Anindia could you comment on um you know the government s 39:14 39 minutes, 14 seconds balances where we were seeing some outflows uh have the trends stabilized and should we start seeing some uh growth even in the institutional SAR 39:23 39 minutes, 23 seconds going ahead. So those are my two questions. 39:28 39 minutes, 28 seconds So as far as the opex is concerned you know I think uh if we look at this year uh more or less it has been in line with 39:36 39 minutes, 36 seconds our expectations. I think uh couple of areas where the costs have been somewhat higher than what we would have expect 39:43 39 minutes, 43 seconds would have started out with. One is you know on the priority sector compliance and the second is to some extent on the 39:51 39 minutes, 51 seconds remuneration because of uh the labor code and you know a couple of other uh you know like the 39:59 39 minutes, 59 seconds market movement impact that we saw in March. Uh and the final you know numbers on business growth are a little ahead of 40:07 40 minutes, 7 seconds opex growth and we hope that that will be uh you know sustained over over the next year. So uh you know definitely we 40:15 40 minutes, 15 seconds would want to have uh opex growth at a level which is below the the the topline growth that would be our objective. 40:24 40 minutes, 24 seconds Got it. And the government s balances yeah government s balances. So as we had said last time those are you know in the 40:32 40 minutes, 32 seconds low teens as a proportion of balances. I think uh this quarter uh it's been uh uh 40:38 40 minutes, 38 seconds you know we maybe the the level of uh rundown has been somewhat lower but really that's something that we will 40:46 40 minutes, 46 seconds have to just bake into our plans and really focus on growing you know the the money in bank as we call it from the 40:53 40 minutes, 53 seconds other set of customers while of course this is something that will come and go as it comes and goes. 40:59 40 minutes, 59 seconds Got it. And if I can just squeeze in one last question. Uh could you comment on how much residual deposit reprising is remaining in your case? 41:08 41 minutes, 8 seconds You won't really give a you know a number of that time but uh I I guess uh 41:15 41 minutes, 15 seconds uh you know maybe you know till till uh uh you know till the last summer our our peak rates were more in the one-year 41:23 41 minutes, 23 seconds kind of uh level. So that's kind of the dep r repricing horizon. Okay. All right. Thank you. 41:33 41 minutes, 33 seconds Thank you. Next question is from Pam Subramanyan from Invest. Please go ahead. 41:40 41 minutes, 40 seconds Yeah. Hi, good evening. Uh thanks for taking my question. Uh firstly on on uh rural loans. So there is a sharp uptick in this quarter. Uh so what is driving that 18% quarter on quarter? 41:52 41 minutes, 52 seconds So part of it is due to uh I think over the last couple of quarters higher demand for gold loans and we have also 42:00 42 minutes geared up you know our machinery. I mean some of it is not strictly rural although we club it uh in that segment. 42:07 42 minutes, 7 seconds It could be from a broader range of branches uh but uh that would be one of the drivers in addition to other elements of the portfolio. 42:18 42 minutes, 18 seconds Okay. Got it. and and where are we in terms of uh so what the issue that came up in the last quarter on the on the you know the priority sector related 42:27 42 minutes, 27 seconds provisioning um so we have been talking about say recoveries of those provisions uh gradually over the next year so any 42:35 42 minutes, 35 seconds update you want to give on that so so as as you as we said earlier as of March we continue to hold those 42:43 42 minutes, 43 seconds provisions we are in the process of working through that portfolio uh as we said to try and bring it into uh 42:50 42 minutes, 50 seconds conformity with the with uh with the requirements of the agri lending classification uh and maybe you know we 42:58 42 minutes, 58 seconds will have an update on that you know a quarter or so from now. 43:04 43 minutes, 4 seconds Okay. And and Alendia broadly where are we in terms of say our PSL compliance say on SMF etc. Since we are 43:11 43 minutes, 11 seconds pretty much I think the same picture. I mean we would have uh uh uh you know some uh we would be compliant overall. 43:20 43 minutes, 20 seconds We would have some shortfall on the uh the the small agree side. So that's uh pretty much the same picture. 43:30 43 minutes, 30 seconds Okay. Thank you so much and congrats on the go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 43:36 43 minutes, 36 seconds Next question is from the lineup engineer from CLSA. Please go ahead. 43:43 43 minutes, 43 seconds Uh, congratulations. 43:45 43 minutes, 45 seconds Uh, your audio is not very clear. Can I use the handset mode please? Yeah. One second. 43:54 43 minutes, 54 seconds Is it better now? Yes, please go ahead. 43:57 43 minutes, 57 seconds Hi. Uh, congrats on the quarter. Uh, firstly just a clarification on Quinn. 44:03 44 minutes, 3 seconds The government deposits uh being in low teens. It's a lot share of total deposit or share of SA 44:11 44 minutes, 11 seconds SA right okay so government SA is a lot share of correct 44:20 44 minutes, 20 seconds Pan I'm sorry you're sounding muffled okay I don't can management hear me now now it is fine go ahead 44:28 44 minutes, 28 seconds yeah okay fair so I I got the answer to the first question um on the second question just wanted to understand on home loans Firstly, is there also an 44:37 44 minutes, 37 seconds element of lower prepayment rate driving the pickup in home loan growth for this quarter or is it just a question that 44:44 44 minutes, 44 seconds now repor rate cuts have ended as you said and now you all are pushing growth I would say it's more a pick up in disbursement 44:52 44 minutes, 52 seconds more a pickup like anindia let's say for the report 45:00 45 minutes uh pan sorry we lost you again oh god yeah is it better now. Yes. 45:06 45 minutes, 6 seconds Yeah. So, just pre-reppo cut cycle to today. How much 45:15 45 minutes, 15 seconds increment? Of course. I think they're not able to hear you pan. Maybe we can just take this offline. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. 45:23 45 minutes, 23 seconds Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Chintan from Autonomous Research. Please go ahead. 45:31 45 minutes, 31 seconds Uh, hey, good afternoon. Uh, thanks for taking my question. uh uh how do we see the growth outlook uh for the coming few 45:39 45 minutes, 39 seconds quarters? Uh uh we're talking about nice growth in the system in in this quarter but clearly uh it's too early to 45:46 45 minutes, 46 seconds incorporate the supply shock uh into expectation. So as you look forward you know as you look into your books uh as 45:54 45 minutes, 54 seconds you see uh how corporates are are getting impacted by this how do you think uh both your book and systems on 46:01 46 minutes, 1 second growth uh will develop over the next few quarters? 46:07 46 minutes, 7 seconds No, it's uh very difficult to answer that question because you know the outlook on the the underlying issue. 46:17 46 minutes, 17 seconds I'm sorry sir, you're not audible. 46:24 46 minutes, 24 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. We've lost the management line. 46:38 46 minutes, 38 seconds [music] 46:52 46 minutes, 52 seconds [music] 47:00 47 minutes [music] 47:06 47 minutes, 6 seconds [music] 47:11 47 minutes, 11 seconds Hey. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management team back online. 47:15 47 minutes, 15 seconds Uh Chint, hi. Hi. Yeah, I'm still here. Uh I think Anendra was asking my question. I'll let him finish. 47:22 47 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah, I I don't know where where we where where you pretty much from the start. 47:28 47 minutes, 28 seconds Yeah. Okay. Essentially, it's very difficult to make a prediction at the at the current time because this is an evolving situation. But uh as we said, 47:37 47 minutes, 37 seconds we believe the system is going into it with a reasonable degree of resilience. 47:41 47 minutes, 41 seconds So we will wait and see how the demand conditions pan out. I think as far as we are concerned we see we we see uh you 47:48 47 minutes, 48 seconds know that uh that we have uh strong levels of capital liquidity funding and a large franchise and we would continue 47:57 47 minutes, 57 seconds to uh you know try to use that to grow the business. Of course we'll have to keep calibrating the risk risk 48:03 48 minutes, 3 seconds acceptance uh levels as we go along. But are you seeing anything in your corporate or business banking book uh that looks like uh you know production 48:12 48 minutes, 12 seconds is falling slowing down uh you know working capital limits are not getting utilized uh uh you know is there any kind of uh kind of are you seeing any stress in your early indicators? 48:23 48 minutes, 23 seconds It's too early to make you know any call or generalization of that kind. 48:28 48 minutes, 28 seconds Okay. And then a quick follow up on your uh cost of deposit point. I think uh uh you said that uh there should be some 48:36 48 minutes, 36 seconds more residual repricing left but you also said that uh you know uh uh kind of take uh the duration as one year which 48:44 48 minutes, 44 seconds is a slightly contradictory so which is it uh is there kind of more to go uh on cost of deposit in terms of residual 48:51 48 minutes, 51 seconds repricing so it's you know I guess if you look at where the deposit rates were a little 48:59 48 minutes, 59 seconds more than a year ago they are at somewhat lower levels I mean the last rate cut cycle happened in uh uh in June 49:06 49 minutes, 6 seconds and then we did there was some further cut you know small cut in December. So uh as I said we overall on the margin 49:14 49 minutes, 14 seconds side we don't we expect it to be rangebound from here on out. 49:20 49 minutes, 20 seconds Okay. And finally on uh on uh uh uh cost income ratio you know this year uh OPEX growth has uh uh led uh topline growth. 49:30 49 minutes, 30 seconds uh could we say we are committed to delivering positive jaws uh next year? 49:36 49 minutes, 36 seconds We don't we really look at uh the PCOP and the PBT postredit costs. So it's not 49:44 49 minutes, 44 seconds that we are you know looking at managing or targeting a particular cost to income metric. Obviously our our objective 49:51 49 minutes, 51 seconds would be to grow revenues ahead of cost but uh we will see how it evolves. Uh that's certainly the way in which we would like to drive uh uh the the bank. 50:04 50 minutes, 4 seconds Thank you. 50:06 50 minutes, 6 seconds Thank you ladies and gentlemen. We'll take that as the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference back to management for closing comments. Over to you sir. 50:16 50 minutes, 16 seconds Uh thank you very much and uh we'll be available to take questions if there are any follow-ups. Thank you. Thank you on 50:25 50 minutes, 25 seconds behalf of ICA Bank. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.