EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. This analyst’s research note on September 24, 2021 highlighted HDFC Bank’s disturbing practice of extracting ‘processing fees’ from prospective customers who applied for loans using false/fabricated documents. Following this, the media finally woke up (here and here) from their self-induced slumber. HDFC Bank was forced to issue...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ICICI Bank posted strong results for 4QFY2021 with standalone net profits up 260% yoy, but 11% down qoq to Rs 44 bn. While the analyst consensus and the capital market may view the results as a positive, investors need to monitor the bank’s focus on mortgages, which...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. An internal memo of an anonymous former senior official of ICICI Bank’s risk management department, publicised by the Indian Express, provides a damning indictment of the credit appraisal and monitoring processes at the bank. It reveals how basic banking processes were violated, and public and shareholder funds...
The overriding theme of Axis Bank’s FY2023 annual report (released on June 26, 2023) is “Open, to Win Together”. The catch phrase is reiterated ad nauseam throughout the report. “Open” stands for not only transparency but also inclusiveness: it is “Dil se Open”. “Together” includes its employees: Axis Bank...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On April 23, 2020, Franklin Templeton India (FTI) took the unprecedented step of winding up its six debt mutual fund schemes. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) then ordered a confidential audit report on this fiasco. Excerpts of the report have now appeared in the...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On February 27, 2020 the Reserve Bank of India
finally approved Sumant Kathpalia as the CEO who will succeed Romesh Sobti when
the latter retires on March 23, 2020. Kathpalia, who has a background in
consumer finance and wealth management, will be taking charge of a bank which
is facing stiff...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. At a time when many private sector banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Indusind Bank and Yes Bank have increased their deferred tax asset (DTA) in 2HFY2020 as compared with 1HFY2020, thereby inflating their net profits in the period, it is heartening to observe...
Private sector banks’ high and sharply rising attrition is in the spotlight, thanks to the mandatory disclosures in banks’ annual and business sustainability reports since FY2023. However, inter-bank comparison may not be an accurate indicator of the attrition in a particular bank, as some large banks use unlisted subsidiaries...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The stock market has responded euphorically to India’s central government budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 (April-March). The question is: does this indicate that investors anticipate a revival of investment, employment, and GDP growth? Paradoxically, it may not. While investment in the macroeconomic sense may not increase,...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ICICI Bank’s 1QFY2022 results on July 24, 2021 highlight the need for shareholders to re-examine the bank’s retail asset strategy. ICICI Bank’s strategy was to focus on retail assets to compensate for the bulky poor-quality corporate assets that it had earlier emphasised. However, the broad economic slowdown...
