ICICI profit up 35% as fee income rises, costs fall

Mumbai: ICICI Bank, India's second-largest lender, said fourth-quarter profit rose 35 per cent, in line with analysts' estimates.

Net income rose to Rs10.06 billion ($829.974 million), or Rs9 a share, from Rs7.44 billion a year earlier, or Rs6.7, according to an emailed statement from the Mumbai-based bank. That compared with the Rs10 billion average of 21 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Fee income, from services such as selling insurance policies and investment advisory, increased 13 per cent to Rs15.21 billion, while operating expenses fell 6 per cent to Rs15.04 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar, who took the helm at the bank about a year ago, aims to win new customers by extending the branch network after six consecutive quarters of shrinking loans and deposits, including the latest quarter.

She's also betting that growth in car and home loans, and credit demand for spending on roads, ports and utilities will accelerate as economic expansion picks up in the nation.

Shares of ICICI rose 3.6 per cent to Rs977.7 in Mumbai trading on Friday. The stock advanced 8.6 per cent in the quarter, compared with a 0.4 per cent increase in India's benchmark Sensitive Index.