India’s ICICI Bank Joins Elite $100 Billion Market Cap Club

New Delhi: ICICI Bank Ltd on June 25 became only the sixth Indian firm to hit a market capitalisation of $100 billion (~Rs 8.4 lakh crore) as the private sector bank’s share price gained over 2 per cent intraday.

The stock was at Rs 1,196.45 in the afternoon trade, up 2.25 per cent from the previous close. ICICI Bank is the second largest bank in India by market capitalisation, trailing HDFC Bank.

With today’s gain, ICICI Bank stock has risen nearly 12 per cent from the lows of June 4 — the day of the general election results. It has beaten the Nifty’s 8 per cent return during the same period and has matched the gains made by the sector index Bank Nifty.

Over the last year, ICICI Bank’s share price has risen nearly 29 per cent, beating the 27 per cent gains made by the NSE Nifty 50, and the 20 per cent gain in Bank Nifty.

The other Indian companies to have crossed $100 billion in market capitalisation are Reliance Industries Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel. IT bellwether Infosys too hit $100 billion in market capitalisation in January 2022 but hasn’t sustained at the level.

Earlier today, ICICI Bank announced that it will release Q1 FY25 financial results on July 27. In the previous quarter that ended March 31, ICICI Bank reported a standalone net profit of 10,707.5 crores, up 17.4 per cent from Rs 9,121.9 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Its net interest income in the January-March quarter grew to Rs 19,092.8 crore from Rs 17,666.8 crore a year ago.

The lender also declared a dividend of Rs 10 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 each.

ICICI Bank has seen modest growth in its wholesale loans business, but a robust retail and SME lending business has helped it outperform the system credit growth.

This week, Motilal Oswal issued a ‘buy’ rating on ICICI Bank stock, on the back of strong loan growth, robust fee income, strong asset quality, and other factors. The brokerage’s target price of Rs 1,350 per share implies a 15 per cent upside from the previous close.

The bank is likely to emphasise quality underwriting, said Motilal Oswal in a note, adding that the bank’s liability momentum remains strong and it is committed to leveraging superior technology to aid customer acquisition.

The brokerage expects ICICI Bank’s Net Interest Margins (NIMs) to remain range-bound in the near term, while its asset quality remains robust, with credit costs expected to normalise gradually.