Prudence the aim for higher growth for ICICI
(16 August 2012 – India) India’s largest private sector bank, ICICI, is aiming to regain its market share this fiscal year after suffering heavily from overly aggressive and risky loans during the GFC.
ICICI chief financial officer N.S. Kannan said growth for the sake of growth can get into asset quality problems, therefore the bank is aiming to be more prudent.
Led by consumer loans, ICICI aims to grow its domestic loans by around one-fifth this fiscal year. But will be especially cautious with project finance, Kannan said.
In the past fiscal year, ICICI cut overall loan growth to 17 percent from its initial target of 20 percent.
"For retail unsecured loans, we have clearly tightened the filters. We are very careful in project finance and in identifying the projects that are worthy of financing," Kannan said.
ICICI expects its asset quality to improve and its restructured loans more than doubled last year. Kannan also expects the overall group’s return-on-equity to grow to 15 percent by next March.
Led by consumer loans, ICICI aims to grow its domestic loans by around one-fifth this fiscal year. But will be especially cautious with project finance, Kannan said.
In the past fiscal year, ICICI cut overall loan growth to 17 percent from its initial target of 20 percent.
"For retail unsecured loans, we have clearly tightened the filters. We are very careful in project finance and in identifying the projects that are worthy of financing," Kannan said.
ICICI expects its asset quality to improve and its restructured loans more than doubled last year. Kannan also expects the overall group’s return-on-equity to grow to 15 percent by next March.