HDFC Bank

** Shares of India's HDFC BANK HDBK.NS fall 3.95% to 684 rupees this week, extending losses for sixth consecutive week

** Stock falls 1.38% on Friday, second-biggest loser on Nifty Private Bank index .NIFPVTBNK, which is down 0.2%

** Investors await clarity on succession at India's largest private lender after CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan said on August 29 he would step down when his term ends on October 26

** Bank said it would fast-track selection of successor; no replacement has yet been announced

** Broader Indian equities slip on escalating Middle East tensions and higher crude prices

** HDFC Bank down 31% YTD, compared with a 5.1% decline in Nifty Private Bank index

(Reporting by Anushka Rajvedi in Bengaluru)

((mailto: [email protected]))

MUMBAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - India's HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS has accepted bids worth 20 billion rupees ($210.86 million) for the reissue of 8.05% August 8, 2029 bonds, three merchant bankers said on Tuesday.

The issuer will offer a yield of 7.9606% and had invited bids from bankers and investors earlier in the day, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on September 8:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 94.8500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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MUMBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - India's HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS plans to raise 20 billion rupees ($211.82 million), including a greenshoe option of 10 billion rupees, through the reissue of 8.05% August 8, 2029 bonds, three merchant bankers said on Monday.

The issuer has invited bids from bankers and investors on Tuesday.

The company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on September 7:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 94.4200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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Aug 31 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank HDBK.NS shares were flat in pre-open trade on Monday as investors digested the news that CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan will not seek reappointment when his current term ends in late October.

The shares, which were about 40% foreign-owned as at June-end, have fallen 27% so far this year.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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HDFC Bank's managing director and chief executive, Sashidhar Jagdishan, said he would not seek reappointment and was due to retire at the close of business on October 26, 2026. The board recorded his decision after he reiterated it despite persuasion and said it would fast-track the selection of a successor. Rajiv Kumar became the bank's RBI-approved part-time chairman in July 2026. HDFC Bank reported standalone net revenue of ₹463.6 billion and net profit of ₹190.6 billion for the June quarter, with a capital adequacy ratio of 19.6%.

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Aug 29 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Limited HDBK.NS:

• HDFC BANK - SASHIDHAR JAGDISHAN DECIDES NOT TO SEEK RE-APPOINTMENT AS MD&CEO OF HDFC BANK

• HDFC BANK - SASHIDHAR JAGDISHAN TO RETIRE FROM HDFC BANK ON OCTOBER 26, 2026

• HDFC BANK - TO FAST-TRACK SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF MD&CEO SUCCESSOR

Source text: ID:nBSE8zv4jS

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

(([email protected];))

** India's HDFC Bank HDBK.NS falls as much as 1.4% to 717.1 rupees

** Set for third straight session of losses

** Lender and its two senior executives face securities class action lawsuit in U.S. for allegedly making illegal payments worth $4.7 million to road development corporation of the western state ​of Maharashtra to draw large deposits

** Stock top drag on benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI index, which is down 0.1%

** "The problems for the lender are multifold," says G Chokkalingam, founder and head of research at Equinomics Research, adding that lack of consistent industry-beating credit growth also weighing on stock

** In contrast to HDBK's drop, peers Axis Bank AXBK.NS, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS up 0.5% to 2%

** YTD, HDBK down 27.4%, set for its biggest yearly drop since 2008 financial crisis

** Stock rated "Strong Buy" on average by 39 brokerage firms, median PT at 1,017.5 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

(([email protected];))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank HDBK.NS raised $1.75 billion through a dual-tranche dollar bond sale, the largest one-shot debt fundraising by an Indian bank, three merchant bankers said on Friday, as banks scramble to take advantage of a concessional window from the central bank.

India's largest private lender on Thursday raised $1.25 billion through the sale of five-year papers, equivalent to the largest single-tranche issuance, and $500 million through three-year papers via its GIFT City branch, it said in a notice to stock exchanges.

Having raised an aggregate $2.50 billion, HDFC has now topped the chart of banks that have raised money through dollar bond sales since June, when the Reserve Bank of India facility was opened. ICICI Bank ICBK.NS came in second with $2.05 billion.

The issues attracted bids of about $7 billion of orders, which was far higher than what the bank expected, encouraging it to accept a larger amount, said a banker.

The three-year papers were priced at 88 basis points over comparable U.S. Treasuries, while the five-year papers were 100 bps over. Both were tighter than the initial guidance of 120 bps and 130 bps, respectively, showing strong investor demand.

The spread was, however, higher than the 90 bps HDFC paid for a five-year issue for $750 million in June.

The bankers who spoke to Reuters for this story requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Market intelligence firm CreditSights, which has an "outperform" rating on HDFC, had expected the final pricing at a spread of 95 bps and 105 bps for the three-year and five-year papers. It, however, sees the fair value at a spread of 82 bps and 92 bps.

In the last few days, banks have been scrambling to complete their dollar issuances, with most funds being used to provide leverage to customers who will be depositing funds under the discounted dollar deposit scheme.

The RBI last week said that the window provided to banks for hedging non-resident deposits would end a month early on August 31. The central bank expects close to $80 billion in inflows through these schemes.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; additional reporting by Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected];))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 20 (Reuters) - India's largest private lender, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, is tapping the dollar bond market for the second time in two months, as banks scramble to close overseas fundraising before a special central bank FX swap window closes.

The Mumbai-based lender plans to raise at least $500 million each through three-year and five-year bonds via its GIFT City branch, the bankers said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media.

"Investor calls have been lined up, and the final pricing for the issue should be completed by Friday," one of the bankers said.

"Since this would be the last issue before the end of August, we will not be surprised if the final quantum easily surpasses $1 billion."

HDFC Bank did not reply to a Reuters query seeking comment.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India decided to prematurely close a discounted swap facility provided to banks for hedging non-resident deposits. The central bank expects close to $80 billion in inflows via subsidised swap facilities opened in June, central bank governor Sanjay Malhotra told the Financial Express newspaper.

HDFC Bank's peer ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has also targeted investors based in the United States for its dollar bonds issued over the last few weeks.

If completed, the latest bond sale would take HDFC Bank's total proceeds from such issues to $1.75 billion, the most after ICICI Bank.

Another private lender, IDFC First Bank IDFB.NS, has raised $600 million through its debut dollar debt sale with three-year maturity through a private placement, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Indian lenders have so far raised $7.55 billion via dollar bonds since the concessional hedging facility was announced on June 5. The swap window will close on August 31, a month before the initial deadline of September end.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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The Reserve Bank of India approved Life Insurance Corporation of India's application to acquire an aggregate holding of up to 9.99% in HDFC Bank. LIC held 4.11% of the bank's paid-up share capital as of 14 August 2026. The approval was subject to banking, foreign-exchange, securities-market and other applicable regulatory requirements. HDFC Bank reported deposits of ₹31,708bn and gross advances of ₹30,608bn in the first quarter of FY27.

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Aug 19 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Limited HDBK.NS:

• HDFC BANK - RBI APPROVES LIC TO BUY UP TO 9.99% IN HDFC BANK

Source text: ID:nBSE98Kh9x

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

(([email protected];))

By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra

MUMBAI, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Indian lenders are rushing dollar loan and bond issues over the next two weeks after the central bank unexpectedly advanced the end date for an FX swap facility that banks were using for hedging exposure to deposits raised from diaspora.

As part of a raft of measures to boost inflows, lenders were permitted to use these overseas borrowings to offer loans to non-resident Indians. Banks' overseas fundraising had also been subsidised.

Now, with the Reserve Bank of India announcing the closure of the forex swap window for August 31, a month earlier than initially planned, Indian private and state-run banks are on track to raise at least $5 billion through a combination of bonds and loans, four bankers said.

"Some of the fund raising plans have been brought forward to utilize the last few days," Akshay Naik, India head of debt capital markets at Citi, said.

"We will have one of the busiest windows for the next 6-8 days from India. Few institutions who are not ready may need to drop their plan if it was solely meant for FCNR leverage."

Large private-sector lenders such as ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and HDFC Bank HDBK.NS are in talks to raise about $1.5 billion each via dollar bonds and loans, while peers including Axis Bank AXBK.NS, YES Bank YESB.NS, RBL Bank RATB.NS and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS are planning to raise at least $500 million each through overseas debt markets, bankers said.

State-run lenders State Bank of India SBI.NS, Bank of Baroda BOB.NS, Punjab National Bank PNBK.NS, Canara Bank CNBK.NS, Union Bank of India UNBK.NS, Bank of India BOI.NS and Central Bank of India CBI.NS are targeting dollar raises of $250 million to $500 million each, with the larger banks likely to target bigger issues, the bankers said.

None of the lenders replied to Reuters emails seeking comment.

All the bankers declined to be named as the discussions are private.

BANKS ON TRACK FOR RECORD DOLLAR FUNDRAISING

Indian lenders have raised a combined $5.93 billion through dollar bond sales and loans so far this year, according to LSEG data through August 11.

The tally has climbed by another $1.2 billion, following debt sales by two large state-run lenders last week.

Over the last 15 years, banks' annual foreign borrowing topped $6 billion on three occasions, including in 2013, when the RBI had opened a swap window.

"Would expect $5-7 billion of additional bond and loan issuances for the remainder of year," Naik said.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; [email protected]))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - State Bank of India SBI.NS, the country's largest lender, drew strong demand in its return to the public dollar bond market after nearly a year, with pricing tightening sharply from initial guidance, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

SBI raised $500 million through a five-year dollar bond issued via its London branch, the lender said in a stock exchange filing late on Tuesday.

These bonds will be priced at a spread of 88 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, sharply below initial guidance of 120 bps. The notes carry a coupon of 5.25%, payable semi-annually.

The final spread was broadly in line with CreditSights' expectation of 90 basis points, although the research firm expects it to tighten further to around 80 basis points in the secondary market.

Spreads on dollar bonds issued by Indian borrowers have widened in recent weeks on expectations of heavy supply following the Reserve Bank of India's swap concession window, while demand has been tempered by attractive rates on foreign-currency deposits.

"As we had anticipated, some of this spread premium has begun to fade as supply is absorbed... We have an outperform recommendation on SBI," CreditSights analysts said in a note.

The lender witnessed tightest pricing, after ICICI Bank sold notes at 100 bps, while HDFC Bank sold notes at a spread of 90 bps over Treasuries.

SBI had planned to raise $1 billion through a public dollar bond issue in June, but deferred the sale due to higher borrowing costs following heavy issuance by Indian lenders.

The bank subsequently raised $600 million through a private placement of three-year dollar bonds at a spread of 100 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

The issue comes at a time when Indian banks are making a beeline for dollar issues after the RBI's swap facility announced in June made overseas borrowing cheaper.

Large private lenders, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have raised funds through dollar bonds in June and July.

Meanwhile, bankers expect SBI to tap the market again in a few weeks for raising dollars, as the board has approved raising of up to $2 billion through bonds sold in dollar or any other major currency in this financial year.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Aug 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - That Indian banks would sport higher book value multiples than their Western peers used to be almost as reliable as the sun coming up in the morning. Even after a lending crisis last decade, the country retained the lead, with $118 billion HDFC Bank HDBK.NS often at the front. Not any longer. A resurgence of players like HSBC HSBA.L and JPMorgan JPM.N as well as the rise of India’s capital markets have both landed blows on the sector. In HDFC’s case, its own governance and margin woes have completed a triple whammy.

The Mumbai-based bank run by Sashidhar Jagdishan currently trades at less than 2 times its estimated book value 12 months from now, per LSEG data. A few years ago, most developed-market peers could only dream of such a level. Now, thanks to resurgent earnings and, in the U.S. at least, a regulatory proposal to cut capital requirements, they sport book multiples most have not worn since the 2008 financial crisis. JPMorgan’s, for example, is now at 2.5 times; the new king of the metric is $206 billion Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX at 3.7 times.

Meanwhile, many Indian banks are struggling to hoover up low-cost deposits as savers look for higher yields in the stock market. That’s hurting net interest margins, with HDFC’s and Axis Bank's expected to fall again this financial year, per estimates collated by Visible Alpha. Industry-wide bank deposits dropped to around one-third of household financial savings in the 13 years to the end of March 2025, while equity and mutual funds grew sevenfold to over 15%, government data show.

HDFC, though, has also shot itself in the foot. In 2020 the Reserve Bank of India barred it from issuing new credit cards after recurring online shutdowns. A 2023 merger with its mortgage-lender parent failed to live up to its promise. In March its chair resigned citing ethical differences with management. Last month the board fined top executives including Jagdishan for improprieties in deposit pricing while exonerating their actions as "business overreach". The successive crises reflect poorly on Aditya Puri, HDFC's Managing Director and CEO from its inception in 1994 until 2020.

It’s not alone. The $41 billion Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS trades at 2.5 times forward book value that’s half its 2019 peak, having been beset by a poorly handled leadership transition and business restrictions akin to HDFC's.

Lifting those curbs has done little for either firm’s valuation. Not all the country’s lenders are suffering from valuation blues: $107 billion ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has undergone a successful turnaround and trades at nearly 3 times book. But HDFC’s path back to the top has too many obstacles.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

HDFC Bank on July 27 said it would issue warning letters and impose a penalty of 100,000 ​rupees ($1,045.51) each on CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, its chief financial officer ​and its head of retail assets for their role in offering preferential deposit rates to a state agency.

The bank's board concluded that its executives involved in setting deposit rates for the agency ​had engaged in business overreach, rather than acting for ‌personal gain.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

Adds details on subsidised foreign currency deposits

By Nishit Navin and Ashwin Manikandan

Aug 7 (Reuters) - State Bank of India SBI.NS posted a larger-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, helped by healthy loan growth, pushing shares as high as 3.6%.

Credit growth has been robust in Asia's third-largest economy as firms borrow due to rising working capital needs and households make a beeline for consumption and gold-backed loans.

The state-run SBI posted a 10.2% rise in net profit to 211.21 billion rupees ($2.22 billion), above analysts' estimates of 191.02 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

Its gross loan book grew 18.63% year-on-year, while deposits grew 9.73%. Loan growth at SBI, the country's largest lender, is closely watched as an indicator of broader economic trends.

Across the sector, analysts and investors have also been closely watching bank margins as strong loan growth has coincided with intense competition for deposits at a time when deposit growth has lagged growth in loans.

SBI's domestic net interest margin expanded 7 basis points to 3% from three months ago. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned on loans and paid on deposits, grew nearly 15% year-on-year to 469.92 billion rupees for the quarter ended June 30.

Top lenders such as HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, Axis Bank AXBK.NS and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS reported sequential margin declines in the first quarter.

SBI's gross non-performing assets improved to 1.47% of total loans from 1.49% three months earlier and 1.83% a year earlier.

Slippages, or loans that turned bad, stood at 70.46 billion rupees in the June quarter, compared to 55.21 billion rupees the previous quarter and 79.45 billion rupees a year earlier.

SBI's shares trimmed some gains to close 1.1% higher.

SUBSIDISED FOREIGN CURRENCY DEPOSITS FROM NON-RESIDENT

SBI said it has mobilised $6 billion in subsidised foreign currency deposits till now, helped by the Reserve Bank of India's concessional swap facility, and is on track to raise $10 billion.

The RBI introduced the swap facility in June to encourage foreign currency inflows, and banks have raised $36.73 billion through FCNR(B) deposits as of July 31, according to data from the RBI.

($1 = 95.2725 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)

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By Vivek Kumar M

Aug 5 (Reuters) - India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI has swung sharply following the launch of a new method for calculating closing prices for stocks with derivatives contracts.

The volatility triggered a rare divergence with the BSE Sensex .BSESN for a third straight session on Wednesday and led to heavy losses for traders.

The Nifty 50 is a 50-stock blue-chip index, with HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS accounting for more than 27% of its weight. The Sensex comprises 30 stocks, all of which are also part of the Nifty 50.

WHAT IS THE NEW METHOD TO DETERMINE CLOSING PRICE?

India on Monday introduced the Closing Auction Session (CAS), a separate 20-minute window that begins at 3:15 p.m. IST after regular trading ends in eligible stocks.

During this window, exchanges collect buy and sell orders. Order entry closes at a random time between 3:28 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. IST, after which trades are matched to determine the closing price at which the maximum volume can be executed.

The new system replaces an earlier method under which closing prices were based on the average price of trades executed in the final 30 minutes of continuous trading. Stocks without futures and options contracts continue to use the old method.

WHY HAS THE NEW METHOD TRIGGERED DIVERGENCES BETWEEN THE NIFTY AND THE SENSEX?

The National Stock Exchange of India said the two bourses maintain separate order books, which means individual stock prices can differ between exchanges, leading to a divergence in indexes closing levels.

In regular trading, dealers have access to bid and offer prices, while the new mechanism does not offer that visibility in the last 20 minutes of trading.

The divergence could also stem from the varying weightages of individual stocks across the two indexes, with the NSE drawing substantially higher institutional volume in the cash market than BSE.

WHY WAS CAS INTRODUCED?

The new process, which brings India closer to how global markets operate, was introduced to provide a fair and transparent closing price, and improve the efficiency of execution for large orders.

WHAT HAPPENED ON TUESDAY

The sharp jump in the Nifty 50 at Tuesday's close, coinciding with the expiry of its weekly derivatives contracts, caused sudden swings in options premiums.

The move left some traders nursing losses, with several saying the 20-minute closing auction gave them little visibility on where the Nifty 50 would settle.

WHEN WILL THE DIVERGENCES IN INDEX CLOSE PRICES END?

Market participants expect the gap to narrow as more traders and institutions participate. Kotak Mutual Fund said in a note to investors that it expects pricing inefficiencies to ease as the market adjusts to the new system.

"While the initial days may witness valuation volatility and temporary price dislocations, we expect market behaviour to normalize over time as participants adapt to the new framework," it said.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the regulator was unlikely to review the system immediately and expects issues to settle soon.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Arbitrage funds, which hold positions in both the cash and futures markets, were among the biggest beneficiaries of the unexpected jump in closing prices.

As cash market prices surged while futures prices lagged, a clear arbitrage opportunity emerged.

Many retail traders, meanwhile, were caught off guard by the sharp price swings and incurred losses.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Jayshree P Upadhyay and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Aug 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India's banks may need to take some lessons in layoffs from Wall Street. Staffing levels at HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, ICICI, Axis AXBK.NS and Kotak Mahindra KTKM.NS fell by up to 4% during the 12 months to the end of March after years of increases. It's largely the result of businesses maturing, revenue growth slowing and more tasks getting automated. Goldman Sachs GS.N, Morgan Stanley MS.N and others routinely dump more. But India generally frowns on making people redundant. AI is likely to force its financial services firms – and others – to look past the taboo and embrace deeper cuts.

Western lenders and investment banks tend to slash their ranks when a downturn hits. But some, like Goldman, also oust those performing poorly – as much as 5% of employees – each year. By that metric, their Indian peers are only dabbling. Moreover, natural attrition seems to account for most, if not all, of the reductions.

That does the job for now as the businesses weaken somewhat. Total revenue at $41 billion Axis for the financial year to the end of March grew at nearly a quarter of its pace the previous year, while Kotak's fell slightly. Yet the compensation ratio for both, and for $122 billion HDFC, stayed flat, suggesting the softly-softly downsizing is working, Breakingviews calculates, using data disclosed by the lenders. Increased outsourcing of tasks like loan collection and IT management weighs on headcount too.

The rise of automation, though, whether due to AI or less advanced technology, is likely to increase pressure to reduce staff numbers. A substantial share of new business, for example, now comes from attracting new retail customers digitally, reducing the need to keep expanding and staffing branches. And AI capabilities are making humans increasingly redundant at routine functions like fraud monitoring and data analysis.

At Axis Bank, where staff numbers fell 3%, CEO Amitabh Chaudhry has set targets that include using AI to automate and augment half of its customer calls in the current financial year. HDFC, which reported a 2% workforce reduction, is applying AI to retail credit decisions and trade transactions.

As banks commit to adopting AI across a growing chunk of their operations, more job functions will have to go, though they are likely to find more productive jobs for some. The impact will eventually show up at government-owned lenders like State Bank of India SBI.NS and intensify a slow-burn shrinkage underway there for years.

Their executives are likely to rely on natural attrition, retirements and reduced hiring for as long as possible. But the bigger the impact of AI and the more their businesses mature, the greater the chance that they will have to follow Wall Street's lead by breaking with convention to give more people the boot.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank reported an up to 4% year-on-year fall in their employee counts as of March 31.

In its annual report for the 12 months ended March, released on July 11, HDFC said the number of permanent employees on its rolls stood at 211,178, 2% lower than the level as on March 31, 2025. ICICI's filings show a 4% fall in the metric to 124,029, while Axis and Kotak reported declines of 3% and 1% respectively.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Aditya Srivastav and Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

Aug 3 (Reuters) -

• S&P: HDFC BANK'S SENIOR UNSECURED NOTES RATED 'BBB'

• S&P: 'BBB' LONG-TERM ISSUE RATING TO $20 MILLION FLOATING RATE SENIOR UNSECURED NOTES DUE 2031 ISSUED BY HDFC BANK'S GIFT CITY BRANCH

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

(([email protected];;))

00 ** Macquarie says completion of HDFC Bank's HDBK.NS review of employees involved in settling deposit rates for a state agency removes a major pending issue and provides regulators with a definitive factual assessment

** Brokerage says the distinction between commercial overreach and misconduct is important and supports a constructive interpretation of the findings

** HDBK has faced investor scrutiny since mid-March when its former chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned abruptly; stock down ~13% since

** Macquarie expects the reappointment process to progress in the coming weeks and says Jagdishan retains a decent chance of securing a three-year extension from the board and RBI

** HDBK down 0.3% at 737.35 rupees on Tuesday

** Macquarie maintains its "outperform" rating on stock with PT of 1,150 rupees

** YTD, HDBK down 25.7% vs Nifty 50's .NSEI 8.1% drop

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

BENGALURU, July 27 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Bank HDBK.NS said on Monday its board concluded employees involved in the deposit pricing of an Indian state agency had engaged in business overreach, rather than acting for personal gains or with any improper motive.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of HDFC Bank HDBK.NS drop about 9% for the week, on track for their worst week since January 2024

** Drop after India's top private lender's Q1 results on Saturday disappointed investors on margin woes

** Stock down 0.2% at 746.05 rupees on the day

** HDBK biggest weekly loser on banks index .NSEBANK and benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI, which are down 3.1% and 2.2%, respectively

** Avg rating of 39 analysts on HDBK at "strong buy"; median PT is 1,017.50 rupees - LSEG-compiled data

** YTD, stock down about 25%, underperforming banks index's 4.8% drop and Nifty 50's about 9% fall

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, July 23 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has provided an initial price guidance for a five-year dollar bond leveraging the central bank's lower-cost hedging facility, as the private lender returns to the dollar debt market after nearly nine years, two bankers aware of the matter said on Thursday.

The lender is expected to raise at least $500 million through this issue and has provided guidance of a spread of 130 basis points over the corresponding U.S. Treasury yield, the bankers added, requesting anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The lender updated its Global Medium Term programme on Wednesday and immediately started the process of raising funds.

ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

"The bank should finalise the pricing before the end of Friday, and we are expecting at least 30 bps of a compression from the initial guidance," one of the bankers said.

The transaction would mark ICICI Bank's first dollar bond issuance since December 2017, when it raised $500 million through 10-year bonds at a coupon of 3.80%.

CreditSights has a market perform recommendation on ICICI Bank's dollar bonds.

The Reserve Bank of India last month introduced a swap facility allowing eligible external commercial borrowings by banks and state-owned companies to be hedged at a fixed rate of 1.5% per annum, compounded semi-annually.

The measure significantly lowers hedging costs, making overseas dollar fundraising more attractive.

The nation's second-largest private bank will join peers HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, which raised $750 million through five-year bonds and $800 million via a dual-tranche dollar bond issue in June.

The proceeds from the issue would be used for general corporate purposes, the bankers added.

The offering will be rated Baa3 by Moody's and BBB by S&P Global, in line with the issuer, and would be sold through its GIFT City branch.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

(([email protected];))

MUMBAI, July 22 (Reuters) - India's HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS accepted bids worth 4 billion rupees ($41.4 million) for the reissue of 8.2301% July 2029 bond, three bankers said on Wednesday.

The firm will offer a yield of 7.75%, and had invited commitment bids for the issue earlier in the day, they said.

The company did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on July 22:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.5650 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Khushi Malhotra and Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected], [email protected]))

** Shares of HDFC Bank HDBK.NS drop 1% to 769.8 rupees, extending Monday's decline

** HDBK is awaiting the outcome of an additional review being conducted by its independent directors before it makes a recommendation to reappoint CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan to India's central bank, Reuters reported citing sources

** HDFC Bank spokesperson did not respond to Reuters request for comment

** Lender has faced investor scrutiny since mid-March when its former chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned abruptly

** Stock down 9.2% since March 18, when Chakraborty resigned

** Stock fell 5.1% on Monday after Q1 margins disappointed investors

** YTD, HDBK down 22.4% vs Nifty 50's .NSEI 7.3% drop

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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Updates for markets open

July 20 (Reuters) - Indian shares opened lower on Monday, dragged by heavyweight HDFC Bank HDBK.NS on a sequential moderation in its quarterly profit margins, while escalating conflict in the Middle East that drove oil prices higher also dented sentiment.

The benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 0.60% to 24,185.80, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN shed 0.72% to 77,587.23 by 9:29 a.m. IST.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS fell 5%. The top private lender reported a modest 5% rise in the June quarter profit over the weekend, with analysts flagging a sharper-than-expected decline in margins as a concern.

The drop in HDFC Bank overpowered the 1% rise in Reliance Industries RELI.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS after their results.

Seven of the 16 major sectors logged losses at the open. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 slipped 0.3% each.

Meanwhile, crude prices LCOc1 topped $90 a barrel, weighing on sentiment, after U.S. forces struck Iran for a ninth consecutive day.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Ronojoy Mazumdar)

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Corrects net interest margins in paragraph 6

BENGALURU, July 15 (Reuters) - Indian non-bank lender HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS posted a higher first-quarter profit on Wednesday, supported by healthy loan demand and improving asset quality.

Net profit rose about 48% to 7.85 billion rupees ($81.55 million) for the quarter ended June 30.

Indian non-banking financial companies saw healthy loan growth and broadly stable asset quality in the June quarter, analysts said, driven by steady demand for consumer, vehicle and housing loans.

HDB Financial's consumer finance loans grew more than 21.1%, outpacing enterprise lending, which grew nearly 8% in the quarter, according to a Reuters calculations.

The company, a unit of top Indian lender HDFC Bank, said its assets under management rose 11.3% year-on-year to 1.22 trillion rupees, while net interest income - the difference between interest earned and paid - increased 11.2% to 42.62 billion rupees.

The lender's net interest margin expanded to 8.4% from 8.2% a quarter ago and 7.7% a year earlier.

HDB Financial, which had grappled with elevated bad loans in the first half of the previous fiscal year, has been improving its asset quality following a more cautious approach to lending in stressed segments including unsecured business loans, commercial vehicles, and construction equipment.

Gross stage 3 loans - those overdue by more than 90 days -stood at 2.34% of total loans at the end of June, down from 2.44% at March-end.

Loan losses and provisions rose 4.1% year-on-year to 6.97 billion rupees.

($1 = 96.2550 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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