ICICI Bank Q2 results: Net profit rises 20% to Rs 14,843 crore, beats estimates; NII up 18%

The bank's net interest margin (NIM) stood at 4.18 percent in the July-September quarter, compared with 4.36 percent in the preceding quarter and 4.30 percent in the year-ago period. The sequential decline of 18 basis points reflected pressure on margins despite strong growth in interest income. The bank said the benefit from interest on tax refunds was negligible during the fiscal second quarter, compared with eight basis points in the preceding quarter.

Core operating profit increased 21.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 20,805 crore from Rs 17,078 crore. Fee income rose 20.1 percent to Rs 7,795 crore, with fees from retail, rural and business banking customers accounting for approximately 75 percent of the total. Operating expenses increased 8.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 12,811 crore. ICICI Bank reported provisions, excluding tax provisions, of Rs 851 crore for the September quarter, compared with Rs 914 crore a year earlier, representing a decline of approximately 6.9 percent.

The bank continued to maintain contingency provisions of Rs 13,100 crore, alongside an additional standard asset provision of Rs 1,283 crore made in the third quarter of FY26 under RBI directions relating to its agricultural priority sector portfolio. Asset quality improved during the quarter. The gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio declined to 1.20 percent as of September 30, from 1.38 percent at the end of June and 1.58 percent a year earlier.

The net NPA ratio improved to 0.30 percent from 0.35 percent sequentially and 0.39 percent a year earlier. Gross NPA additions stood at Rs 4,833 crore, compared with Rs 5,034 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The bank's total advances increased 30 percent year-on-year and 12.3 percent sequentially to Rs 18.32 lakh crore as of September 30. Excluding loans extended by international branches against foreign currency non-resident (FCNR-B) deposits, total loan growth was 24.1 percent year-on-year and 7.3 percent sequentially.

The retail and rural loan portfolio grew 14.8 percent year-on-year, while the business banking portfolio expanded 33.8 percent. The domestic corporate portfolio registered growth of 30.6 percent. Total period-end deposits increased 27.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 20.50 lakh crore. Excluding FCNR-B deposits, deposit growth stood at 17 percent. Average deposits rose 21.2 percent to Rs 18.88 lakh crore.

The average current account and savings account (CASA) ratio stood at 35.8 percent, reflecting the increase in the term deposit base due to FCNR-B deposit inflows. ICICI Bank's total capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.68 percent as of September 30, while its common equity tier-1 (CET-1) ratio was 16.01 percent. Both remained above the respective minimum regulatory requirements of 11.70 percent and 8.20 percent.

During the quarter, the bank also acquired an additional 2 percent stake in ICICI Life Insurance for Rs 1,470 crore. ICICI Bank shares closed 0.55 percent higher at Rs 1,397 on Friday, ahead of the earnings announcement. The stock has gained 4.4 percent year-to-date, outperforming the Nifty 50, which has declined 11.5 percent over the same period. The bank's market capitalisation stood at approximately Rs 10.03 lakh crore at Friday's close.