ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar sprang a surprise following the bank’s board meeting on Monday. She announced a fourth quarter net profit of £102 million - 50 per cent lower than last year and the lowest in two years - but in line with market expectations. Her ‘2020’ strategy for the bank surprised many as her term expires in March 2019 and she continues to be dogged by a controversy over loans to defaulting borrower Videocon, which had a business relationship with her husband.
Though she ducked questions about Videocon, her elaborate plans appear to be designed to quell speculation about her tenure. The meeting was skipped by government nominee Lok Rajan and V K Sharma, chairman of LIC, the bank’s largest shareholder.
The financial results meeting will be followed by a meeting to discuss strategy. Kochhar said this would be an annual event to discuss budget, planning and strategy for the year ahead. The results were announced post market hours. The ICICI Bank ADR was up 3.72 per cent in the New York Stock Exchange following the results at around 9 pm Indian time.
The bank managed to report a profit despite an additional £1.57 billion loans slipping into the non-performing category. However, the sale of part of its stake in ICICI Securities helped to shore up earnings. The new NPAs include £1 billion worth of loans that were restructured earlier but are now required to be reclassified following new norms by RBI in February.
