Set to grow faster, but won't sacrifice profitability: ICICI Bank

Confident of ICICI Bank becoming India’s biggest in terms of size as well as overall performance, its Managing Director and CEO, Chanda Kochhar, has said she would prefer to reach the top level with a profitable model.

Kochhar, who implemented the ‘4C-strategy’ of improving CASA (current and savings account) deposit growth, cost control, credit quality improvement and capital conservation, added that this strategy has put in place a foundation for the bank to grow at a faster pace than the industry.

However, this growth won’t be at the cost of profitability or by getting into a high-risk business model, she added. Soon after the impact of global economic crisis started becoming visible in India, ICICI instituted this strategy to position itself for the next phase of growth.

This also marked a significant departure for the bank from a focus on retail business and an aggressive growth model till that time.

“I think it is possible for us to show growth and to grow at decent levels while maintaining this balance with profitability.  We think that whatever rate the industry grows at, we will grow at 2-3 per cent higher than that. And we will not grow by sacrificing profitability or risk, but because we have the franchise, we have the network, we have the product, and we have the sound cost of funding, and so on,” Kochhar said.

ICICI Bank is currently India’s second largest bank after state-run SBI.

“We should definitely get there but with a profitable model. If India grows at 8 per cent, the Indian banks will grow much faster.

But whether our growth rate will be 18 or 24 per cent, that will depend on whether the industry is growing at 15 per cent or 20 per cent and that would depend on whether India is growing at 6 per cent or 8 per cent,” she said.