ICICI Bank (ICICIBANK) Q4 00/01 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY01 net profit rose 53% YoY to Rs. 161.10 crore; total assets increased 63% to Rs. 19,737 crore.

• The March 10 acquisition of Bank of Madura made the institution the largest private-sector bank in India; FY01 results include its operations only from the effective date.

• Growth was supported by higher net interest and fee income, a stronger retail deposit base, and investments in technology and customer access.

Financial highlights

• Gross income was Rs. 1,462.14 crore vs. Rs. 1,046.92 crore; net profit was Rs. 161.10 crore vs. Rs. 105.30 crore in FY00.

• Operating profit rose 28% to Rs. 290.17 crore; net interest income increased 118% to Rs. 404.46 crore, and core fee income grew 99% to Rs. 171 crore.

• Interest income increased 46% to Rs. 1,242.13 crore, while interest expense rose 26% to Rs. 837.67 crore; net interest margin improved to 3.55% from 2.46%.

• Operating expenses increased to Rs. 334.30 crore from Rs. 153.31 crore, reflecting retail, technology, ATM, call-centre, card and data-centre investments.

• Deposits reached Rs. 16,378.21 crore; advances including credit substitutes were Rs. 10,756.02 crore, and total assets were Rs. 19,736.59 crore.

Outlook and guidance

• Priorities include capturing merger synergies, deepening relationships with the enlarged customer base, expanding fee income and cross-selling products.

• Integration of acquired branch technology and operations was identified as a key 2001-02 challenge; remaining branches were to migrate in phases.

• Management expected competitive pressure on spreads to persist and described SME, micro-credit and agro-business initiatives as opportunities with significant execution challenges.