ICICI Bank registers a profit of Rs 337 crore in third quarter

Mumbai: ICICI Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 337.68 crore in the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2003. The net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2002 was at Rs 56.88 crore. The figures, however, are not comparable as the current numbers are that of the merged entity, ICICI Ltd and ICICI Bank.

In the third quarter ended 31 December 2002, the bank had recorded a net profit of Rs 330 crore. For the first full year ended 31 March 2003, after the merger, ICICI Bank registered a net profit of Rs 1,206.18 crore. A large portion of this can be attributed to the sale of 16 per cent of the bank's stake to foreign financial institutions in September 2002. The net profit for the previous year was Rs 258.30 crore.

The bank has proposed a dividend of Rs 7.50 per share for the year ended 31 March 2003 involving a total payout of Rs 519 crore, including dividend tax.

Says ICICI Bank managing director and CEO K V Kamath: "We have seen a steady improvement in our profitability and achieved market leadership in retail finance. We are shifting towards a stable, lower-cost funding profile and have sold 16 per cent of our stake to strategic and institutional investors."

The bank's retail assets totalled Rs 19,132 crore and constituted 18 per cent of the balance sheet. ICICI Bank had achieved 34-per cent market share in the auto loans business and 20 per cent of the personal and consumer loans business, says Kamath.