ICICI Bank reported better than expected Q1FY23 results

ICICI Bank Ltd is India`s second-largest private sector bank. Through a number of delivery channels, as well as through its group companies, ICICI Bank provides a broad range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail clients. ICICI Bank was founded in 1994 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ICICI Limited, an Indian financial organisation.

ICICI Bank on 23rd July 2022 announced their Q1FY23 numbers, where they clocked a 50% YoY growth in net profits along with robust 20% YoY growth in loan book & in Net interest income.

The consensus among research firms is that the company has once again performed admirably in Q1FY23, outperforming expectations. The ICICI Bank share price has increased by 5% during the past five trading sessions, even before the release of Q1FY23 earnings, demonstrating the favourable investor opinion. Let’s now dig deeper into the ICICI Bank Q1FY23 numbers to learn why investors are feeling this way and what the future holds.

Key Highlights of ICICI Bank results Q1FY23

• Net interest income for the Q1FY23 increased by 20% YoY to Rs 13210 crores, up 5% QoQ
• Net Core revenue grew 20% YoY to Rs 17875 crores, aided by healthy Other Income and NIM
• On standalone basis non-interest income (other income) for the Q1FY23 increased by 75% YoY to Rs 4,665.2 crores
• Profit after tax grew by 50% YoY to Rs 6905 crore in Q1FY23, while it fell 6% QoQ
• Registered a 9% YoY growth in pre-provision operating profit at Rs 10,309 crore, with operating expenses rising 25.3% YoY to Rs 7,566 crore for the Q1FY23.
• ICICI Bank outpaced HDFC Bank and KMB in terms of sequential loan growth at 4% QoQ
• SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) loans de-grew sequentially but remains the fastest growing segment on YoY basis Up 32% YoY, whereas Retail segment grew 24% YoY & commercial vehicles and equipment portfolio grew by 7% YoY and was flat QoQ
• Improvement of 19bps and 7bps QoQ in GNPA (Gross Non-Performing Assets) and NNPA (Net Non-Performing Assets) to 41% and 0.7%, respectively.

ICICI Bank results Q1FY23: Consolidated Net interest Income grew 16% YoY

ICICI Bank’s Net interest income for the Q1FY23 increased by 20% YoY to Rs 13210 crores, compared to Rs 10936 crores reported in Q1FY22. Whereas on a QoQ basis Net Interest income grew 5% from Rs 12605 crores in Q4FY22 to Rs 13210 crores in Q1FY23. This was accompanied with 21% YoY growth in advances and 13% YoY increase in deposits.

The bank further said the net interest margin at 4.01% for the Q1FY23 improved from 3.89% in year-ago quarter, and 4 % in Q1FY22. Moreover, to classify the interest components of the bank, it comprises of Int. /Disc. on Adv/Bills, Income on Investment, Int. on balances with RBI & Others. Interest on Investment & Interest on balances with RBI saw positive YoY growth whereas income from other sources fell slightly.

While Net revenue grew 20% YoY to Rs 17875 crores, aided by healthy Other Income and NIM expansion. This is the fastest NR (Net Revenue) growth reported by a large private bank in Q1FY23 thus far. On standalone basis non-interest income (other income) for the Q1FY23 increased by 16.75% YoY to Rs 4,665.2 crores, with fee income growth of 32 % YoY.

“There was a treasury gain of Rs 36 crore in Q1FY23 compared to a gain of Rs 290 crore in Q1FY22,” the bank said. The bank took a mark-to-market hit of Rs 400 crore on its investment which dented treasury income.

ICICI Bank results Q1FY23: PAT grew whooping 50% YoY while it fell slightly QoQ

ICICI Bank’s Profit after tax grew by 50% YoY to Rs 6905 crore (US$ 874 million) in Q1FY23, from Rs 4616 crores in Q1FY22. While on QoQ basis PAT fell slightly 1.6% from Rs 7019 crores in Q4FY22 to Rs 6905 crores in Q1FY23.

Moreover, a strong traction in core interest income and resilience in other income resulted in the double-digit growth in operating profit. The bank registered a 15.9% YoY growth in pre-provision operating profit at Rs 10,309 crore, with operating expenses rising 25.3% YoY to Rs 7,566 crore for the quarter.

ICICI Bank results Q1FY23: Sequential loan growth of ICICI Bank outperforms that of other large private banks

At 4% QoQ loan growth, ICICI Bank outpaced HDFC Bank and KMB in terms of sequential growth. Growth during the Q1FY23 was driven by the Retail, Rural & Business Banking and Corporate segments, both of which grew 4% QoQ. SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) loans remains the fastest growing segment on YoY basis (+32% YoY).

Within retail, Mortgages, Personal Loans and Credit Cards grew 22%, 38% and 63% YoY, respectively. Auto loans grew by 17.6% YoY and 5.2% QoQ. The commercial vehicles and equipment portfolio grew by 3.7% YoY and was flat QoQ. As a result of the sharp increase in Personal Loans and Credit Cards, Unsecured Loans now constitute 20% of Retail loans (vs 17% in Q1FY22).

The management claims that partnerships, like the one with Amazon, or cross-selling to current clients were the main ways to increase the unsecured portfolio. ICICI Bank results

Q1FY23: Asset quality improves despite uptick in slippages

Slippages came in at Rs 5,825 crores or 2.6% of advances (vs 2% in Q4FY22). Retail, rural and business banking accounted for 86% of the slippages despite constituting 68% of the overall portfolio mix. Adjusting for the impact of slippages from the Kisan Credit Card portfolio, which tends to be seasonally elevated in Q1, the overall slippage ratio would stand at roughly 2.3%.

The impact of slippages on asset quality was more than offset by recoveries and upgrades of Rs 5,443cr and write-offs/sales to the extent of Rs1,139cr. This led to improvement of 19bps and 7bps QoQ in GNPA (Gross Non-Performing Assets) and NNPA (Net Non-Performing Assets) to 3.41% and 0.7%, respectively.

Other Key Updates: Robust growth in Advances & healthy ratios

Total period-end deposits grew by 13.4% YoY in Q1FY23. During the quarter, average current account deposits increased by 23.0% YoY and 2.9% QoQ. Average savings account deposits grew by 19.1% YoY and 4.4% QoQ. While the liquidity coverage ratio for the Q1FY23 was about 127%, reflecting continued surplus liquidity.

Within the domestic book, 43% of the loans are repo-linked, 6% are linked to other external benchmarks and 21% to MCLR. The balance 30% has fixed rates.

Additionally, the bank’s digital platforms are being adopted and used more frequently. At the close of Q1FY23, 7.3 million non-ICICI bank account customers have activated iMobile Pay. Non-ICICI bank account holders’ transactions saw a 35% QoQ rise in value. Additionally, the amount spent on credit cards rose by 2x YoY and 12.6 % QoQ. Increased discretionary spending and increased activation rates were the driving factors behind this.

Technical Analysis of ICICI Bank share price

The ICICI Bank stock has experienced a severe correction in the beginning of the 2022 and reached 52 week low at 643 in March but have recovered almost completely and is about to reach Jan 2022 levels. Moreover, before the announcement of Q1FY23 results the ICICI Bank stock has gained almost 5% in last few days and now as the ICICI Bank has reported better than expected quarterly results, analysts are bullish on the ICICI Bank stock and expects it to deliver 20-25% return in medium to long term by reaching 1000 levels.

Brokerage firm Edelweiss said, “The bank’s sustained growth outperformance, strong digital push, focus on risk-calibrated operating returns and strong balance sheet should bring about a re-rating for the bank. The brokerage has a target of 975 on the bank. Similarly Nirmal Bang has a target price of 1,079.

According to brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, ICICI Bank is seeing a strong recovery in business trends across key segments such as Retail, SME, and Business Banking. Asset quality trends remain steady, while PCR remains one of the best in the industry ~80%. The additional COVID19 provision buffer (90bp of loans) renders further comfort.. The brokerage maintains ‘Buy’ rating on ICICI Bank stocks with an share price target of Rs 1,050 per share.

Our view

Despite sounding optimistic about credit demand, management appeared cautious given the inflationary environment and recent global upheavals. The asset quality of ICICI Bank increased QoQ, yet the bank nonetheless strengthened contingency buffers.

Additionally, this was the bank’s second consecutive quarter of delivering a 2% ROA (Return on Assets). This quarter results saw the bank’s NII grow by a healthy 16%. Growth across Retail, Wholesale and SME loans indicates the bouncing back of the economic activity post two years of the pandemic and ICICI Bank has achieved a decent growth across these segments. The NPA’s are the lowest levels in the last ten quarters. Over the last one year the stock of ICICI Bank has delivered returns of 18% which is the highest among private sector banks. Post the Q1FY23 results, investors can expect the bank to continue its outperformance among the private sector banks.

 

About the Author

Ketan Sonalkar (SEBI Rgn No INA000011255)

Ketan Sonalkar is a certified SEBI registered investment advisor and head of research at Univest. He is one of the finest financial trainers, with a track record of having trained more than 2000 people in offline and online models. He serves as a consultant advisor to leading fintech and financial data firms. He has over 15 years of working experience in the finance field. He runs Advisory Services for Direct Equities and Personal Finance Transformation.

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