ICICI Bank becomes second lender to cross ₹5 trillion in mcap

At 11am, the scrip was at a record high of ₹734 a share, up 2% from its previous close. Its mcap stood at ₹5.10 trillion.

ICICI Bank is the second lender after HDFC Bank and seventh Indian firm to achieve this milestone.

Earlier, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Infosys Ltd have hit this level.

Analysts say that ICICI Bank has emerged as a growth leader and with better return ratios and credible management, it will be able to narrow down the valuation gap with peers like HDFC Bank.

Recently, RBI has approved the extension of MD and CEO Sandeep Bakhshi’s term for two years.

The RBI’s term extension for two years, instead of the general practice of a three-year extension, is in line with the valid board/shareholder approval for his appointment for a five-year period from October 15, 2018, to October 23, 2023. Thus, it should not be seen as a short-term extension by the RBI similar to RBL Bank and DCB Bank.

“ Under the leadership of Bakhshi, the bank has seen a major transformation across business and financial parameters. The bank has steered well through the pandemic, building strong provision/capital buffers and is raring to go for growth with a clear focus on sustainable profitability” said Emkay Global in a report.

According to an Edelweiss report, the bank highlighted that the pickup in collections post-first quarter of FY22 has been along anticipated lines across businesses (ex-some lag in CV). So the bank isn’t incrementally worried about growth. On NIM, ICICI would want to maintain similar levels, especially with emerging headwinds on deposit costs.

“While a focused approach and structural changes underpin ICICI’s sustainable re-rating, at current combination of safety-cheapness-recovery gearing, ICICI appears to be the lowest hanging fruit. A leg-up from robust subsidiaries reinforces our positive view. Retain ‘BUY/SO’; we continue to earmark ICICI as our top pick,” Edelweiss report added.