ICICI Bank Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Profit and dividend: Q4 PBT (ex-treasury) rose 10.1% YoY to INR 182.09 billion and PAT was up 8.5% YoY to INR 137.02 billion, with the board recommending a INR 12 per share dividend for FY2026.

Loans outpaced deposits but liquidity remains comfortable: Total loans grew 15.8% YoY (6% sequentially) versus deposit growth of 11.4% YoY, and management highlighted an average LCR ~126% and adequate deposit flows to support continued loan growth.

Asset quality and provisions improved sharply: Net NPA fell to 0.33%, provisioning coverage was 75.8%, quarterly provisions dropped to INR 0.96 billion (from INR 8.91 billion a year ago), and FY2026 credit cost was about 38 bps.

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ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) reported year-over-year growth in profit and maintained strong asset quality in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, while management discussed the drivers behind improving mortgage momentum, lower provisions, and the bank’s outlook amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Profit rises, dividend proposed

Managing Director and CEO Sandeep Bakhshi said the bank remained focused on “risk-calibrated profitable growth” driven by a customer-centric approach and deeper ecosystem coverage. Profit before tax (PBT), excluding treasury, rose 10.1% year over year to INR 182.09 billion in Q4 FY2026, while core operating profit increased 5.1% to INR 183.05 billion.

Profit after tax (PAT) grew 8.5% year over year to INR 137.02 billion for the quarter. For the full year FY2026, the bank reported PAT of INR 501.47 billion, up 6.2%. Consolidated PAT rose 9% year over year to INR 147.55 billion in Q4 and reached INR 542.08 billion for FY2026, also up 6.2%.

The board recommended a dividend of INR 12 per share for FY2026, subject to approvals.

Total deposits grew 11.4% year over year and 8.1% sequentially as of March 31, 2026. Average current and savings account (CASA) deposits rose 11.3% year over year and 2.7% sequentially in the quarter. The bank’s average liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) was about 126%, which management repeatedly cited as support for continued growth.

Overall loans (including international branches) grew 15.8% year over year and 6% sequentially. Retail loans increased 9.5% year over year and 4.2% sequentially, and represented 41.7% of the total portfolio when including non-fund-based outstanding. Rural loans, including gold loans, rose 25.6% year over year and 18% sequentially, while business banking expanded 24.4% year over year and 7.6% sequentially. The domestic corporate book grew 9% year over year and 3.1% sequentially. Overseas loans were 2.7% of the loan book at quarter-end.

In response to questions about deposits lagging loan growth and potential market-share loss, management argued the gap looks narrower on an average balance basis. “Deposit growth is not something that will constrain us from pursuing loan growth,” management said, adding that deposit flows were “more than adequate and healthy” and that the bank remained “very comfortable” on liquidity metrics.

Mortgages improve; credit cards decline

Management detailed mixed retail trends. Mortgage loans grew 13.2% year over year and 4.7% sequentially. Auto loans increased 1.7% year over year, while personal loans rose 7.2%. The credit card portfolio declined 5.6% year over year and 1.3% sequentially.

On the acceleration in mortgage growth, management said the bank had held back in prior quarters due to benchmark risk and spreads. As the benchmark “has settled,” management said it created room to expand, while continuing to price competitively and focus on a “customer 360” approach. When asked whether lower prepayments contributed, management responded it was “more a pickup in disbursement.”

On credit cards, management said the Q3 decline was “seasonal” following a festive-season build in Q2, but described the Q4 decline as more tied to “spends and revolvers.” Management acknowledged that lower revolver balances have weighed on profitability across the industry, but said the business “still remains a very profitable business” with multiple levers including cost and rewards. Management also indicated a desire to improve card-related fee momentum, describing cards and payments as an area that had been “a little slow” this year.

Asset quality improves; provisions fall sharply

Asset quality metrics improved further. Net non-performing assets (NPA) were 0.33% at March 31, 2026, compared with 0.37% at December 31, 2025 and 0.39% a year earlier. Provisioning coverage on non-performing loans stood at 75.8%. The bank also held contingency provisions of INR 131 billion, or about 0.9% of total advances.

Quarterly provisions totaled INR 0.96 billion, which management said reflected “healthy asset quality and higher recoveries and write-backs,” compared with INR 8.91 billion in the year-ago quarter. Gross NPA additions were INR 42.42 billion versus INR 51.42 billion a year earlier, while recoveries and upgrades (excluding write-offs and sale) were INR 30.68 billion. Net additions to gross NPAs were INR 11.74 billion.

Management attributed the lower provision requirement to two factors: reduced retail additions—particularly in unsecured products where provisioning is more aggressive—and higher corporate recoveries and write-backs, including recoveries from written-off accounts that flow through the provision line. For the full year, management cited a credit cost of 38 basis points in FY2026 (adjusted for an additional standard-asset provision related to agricultural priority sector and corporate recoveries), stating credit costs were “under 50 basis points” for the year and the “underlying credit cost remains pretty stable.”

On corporate risk concentrations, the bank disclosed outstanding to NBFCs and HFCs of INR 859.04 billion (about 4.6% of advances) and a builder portfolio of INR 714.21 billion (about 4.2% of the loan book). Management said about 0.9% of the builder portfolio was internally rated BB and below or classified as non-performing.

Margins stable; treasury loss linked to market moves and RBI rules

Net interest income (NII) rose 8.4% year over year to INR 229.79 billion. Net interest margin (NIM) was 4.32%, slightly above 4.30% in the prior quarter, while cost of deposits declined to 4.43% from 4.55%. Management said quarterly margin reflected external benchmark-linked loan repricing, term deposit repricing, and seasonally lower interest reversal on the KCC portfolio, noting NIM for FY2026 was 4.32%, unchanged from FY2025.

Non-interest income excluding treasury grew 5.6% to INR 74.15 billion, while fee income rose 7.5% to INR 67.79 billion. Management said retail, rural, and business banking customers accounted for about 78% of total fees in the quarter. Dividend income from subsidiaries was INR 6.31 billion versus INR 6.75 billion a year ago.

ICICI Bank recorded a treasury loss of INR 1.06 billion in Q4, compared with a loss of INR 1.57 billion in the prior quarter and a gain of INR 2.99 billion in the year-ago quarter. Management said the result primarily reflected market movements and included the impact of the RBI’s cap on FX net open positions in the onshore market.

Operating expenses grew 12% year over year in Q4 and 11.5% for FY2026, with employee costs up 8.8% and non-employee expenses up 14% in the quarter. The bank added 126 branches in Q4 and 528 in FY2026, ending with 7,511 branches. Management said the sequential OpEx increase reflected market-movement-driven increases in provisions for retiral benefits and highlighted additional pressures from priority sector compliance and remuneration-related factors, while reiterating an objective to keep cost growth below top-line growth over time.

Looking ahead, management avoided giving explicit growth guidance, citing uncertainty from the conflict in West Asia. Still, it emphasized the bank’s “strong franchise,” capital and liquidity position, and intent to pursue growth “within our parameters of risk acceptance,” while monitoring potential impacts across sectors and within business banking.

About ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN)

ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of products and services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. The bank traces its origins to the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, founded in 1955, and was converted into a commercial bank during the 1990s as part of its evolution into a full-service financial institution. It is one of India's largest private-sector banks and is listed in the United States as an American depositary receipt under the ticker IBN.

The bank's core activities include retail banking (deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards and payments), corporate and commercial banking (working capital, term lending, trade finance and cash management), and treasury operations.