Sunday, June 7, 2009

ICICI bank expects growth in car, home and corporate loans

ICICI Bank on Sunday said it will have a strong showing in car, home and corporate loans business in the current fiscal, but its relatively lower exposure to personal and other small-ticket loans could limit the overall balance-sheet growth to below 20 per cent in the year.

Stating that the last fiscal was bad, when its profit fell by about 10 per cent and it also faced rumours of a run-on the bank, ICICI Bank's CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar said that bad times were behind it.

Anticipating a growth rate of 24-25 per cent in focussed business areas like housing, corporate and car loans, Kochhar said that the overall growth in its balance sheet could, however, be below 20 per cent in the current fiscal as the full impact of shift in focus areas would not be visible.

Confident about a robust growth cycle ahead for the bank, Kochhar said, "We clearly see change of scenario. The pressure that were on us, specifically during October-November period, I think that period is behind us and we are seeing the confidence of depositors coming back.

"Deposits are growing, new customers are opening accounts, existing customers are putting back their deposits," she said.

Asked by when ICICI Bank would regain the position of largest retail lender from PSU giant SBI, Kochhar said: "I am not here really to run a race. I am here to stay on course that I have charted out in the beginning of the year."

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