ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s second-largest private lender by market capitalization, recently reported a higher-than-expected profit for the first quarter, significantly exceeding analyst predictions. The bank's stand-alone net profit for the three months ending June reached $1.5 billion (148 billion Indian rupees), marking a 15.9% increase from $1.27 billion (127.68 billion rupees) in the same period last year. This strong performance beat the LSEG analyst estimate of $1.31 billion (131.8 billion rupees) and the CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of $13.616 crore, as well as Bloomberg's average estimate of $1.19 billion (119.85 billion rupees).
The improved financial results were largely attributed to robust loan demand and lower provisions for potential bad loans. Total provisions for the quarter decreased by 30.5% to $126 million (12.6 billion rupees) year-on-year, significantly down from $181.45 million in the base quarter, though they saw a sharp jump to $126 million from just $960,000 in March. As of the end of the June quarter, ICICI Bank held total provisions of $2.29 billion (229.63 billion rupees), representing 1.4% of total loans.
Several key metrics also indicated a healthy quarter for ICICI Bank. Net Interest Income (NII) surged by 12.1% year-on-year to $2.43 billion (243.85 billion rupees), fueled by a 19.6% rise in domestic loans and a 14% growth in deposits. While this was slightly lower than CNBC-TV18's poll estimate of $2.36 billion (236.89 billion rupees), the bank's net interest margin (NIM), a crucial measure of profitability, marginally increased to 4.36% from 4.32% in March and 4.34% last year. Other income, including earnings from bonds and investments, also rose by 16% to $842.5 million (84.25 billion rupees).
The bank's asset quality remained strong and improved marginally, with the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio falling to 1.38% from 1.4% in the previous quarter. In absolute terms, Gross NPA stood at $2.38 billion, down from $2.30 billion last quarter, while Net NPA was 0.35%, up from 0.33% last quarter. Shares of ICICI Bank closed 2.5% higher at $17.43 (₹1,454) on Friday, having outperformed peers so far in 2026 with close to 10% returns and nearing its 52-week high of $18 (₹1,500).
