ICICIBANK

Updates for mid-day trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Indian share benchmarks overcame initial jitters and rose by the mid-day trading session on Friday, as heavyweight stocks clawed back some of the previous session's losses.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI added 0.54% to 25,592.6, and the BSE Sensex .BSESN rose 0.48% to 82,897.3, as of 12:11 p.m. IST. They had fallen about 0.3% at the open, extending a 1.5% decline in the previous session, their steepest single-day drop in over two weeks.

Fifteen of the 16 major sectors traded higher. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

"What we are seeing today is more of a tactical bounce from Nifty 50's 200-day simple moving average (SMA) of around 25,300 points," said Naveen Vyas, head of family office at Anand Rathi Global Finance.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries RELI.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rose 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, on Friday, after a 2.2% and 1.4% drop in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the volatility index - a measure of the market's expected volatility for the next 30 days - spiked this week to 14.36, just shy of an eight-month high hit in the run-up to the federal budget on February 1.

This comes after Brent crude oil prices rose to $72 per barrel amid tensions in the Middle East. Higher crude prices are a negative for India as it is the world's third-largest crude oil importer. O/R

"We are still not out of the woods. If Brent crude surpasses $75 per barrell and stays at that level for a couple of months, that could put further pressure on Indian equities," said Vyas.

The IT index .NIFTYIT was the sole loser among major sectors, down 0.5% as ongoing concerns over the impact of AI-linked disruption on earnings continued to weigh.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)

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** Shares of India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rise 1.2% to surpass market capitalisation of Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS

** IT major now sixth biggest Indian company by market cap after losing two spots in two days; shares down 3.7%

** TCS' market cap drops to 10.13 trillion rupees ($111.92 billion), while that of ICICI Bank rises to 10.18 trillion rupees ($112.47 billion)

** IT bellwether hit by broader sell-off in IT stocks due to fears of AI disruption and fading U.S. rate cut hopes

** Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT down 4.3%

** Reliance Industries RELI.NS, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS and State Bank of India SBI.NS are the India's top four firms, respectively, in terms of market cap

($1 = 90.5150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

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Feb 11 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd HDBK.NS:

• HDFC BANK - RBI APPROVES ICICI AMC TO BUY UP TO 9.95% IN HDFC BANK

Source text: ID:nBSEwPH7q

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

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By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - A 75 billion rupee ($816.58 million) debt sale by India's Adani Power ADAN.NS was corned by large Indian banks and mutual funds, who bought over 90% of the issue, three sources aware of the matter said on Friday.

Domestic banks and mutual funds invested 69.75 billion rupees as part of the issue, the bankers said, declining to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Adani Power did not respond to an email seeking details of the bond issue, which closed for bidding on Friday.

India's Adani group firms shed $12.5 billion in market cap on Friday, after the U.S. markets regulator asked a court for permission to personally email summons to founder Gautam Adani and group executive Sagar Adani over alleged fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme.

The group has focused its borrowings mainly in the domestic market after shortseller Hindenburg Research made allegations around its corporate governance practices in 2023.

Adani Power raised 28.60 billion rupees via two-year bonds and 26.90 billion rupees via a three-year note. The remaining 6.75 billion rupees and 12.75 billion rupees were raised through four- and five-year papers.

The Adani unit will pay a coupon of 8.00% and 8.20% on the two- and three-year bonds, and 8.30% and 8.40% on four- and five-year papers.

SBI mutual fund, India's biggest in terms of assets under management, led the buying and invested 25 billion rupees, or one-third of the issue size, while Kotak Mutual Fund bought 6 billion rupees of debt, the bankers said.

ICICI Bank bought 11 billion rupees of bonds, while Axis Bank opted for 10 billion rupees of notes, they said.

SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Trust Investment Advisors, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are the arrangers for the issue.

Trust Investment Advisors did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The bonds are rated 'AA' by Crisil and India Ratings, with the coupons set to step up by 25 basis points for every notch of rating downgrade.

($1 = 91.8470 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

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Updates with more details

By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra

MUMBAI, Jan 21 (Reuters) - State Bank of India's mutual fund unit has committed to pick up at least 10% of Adani Power's ADAN.NS nearly $820 million rupee-denominated bond issue, likely to be launched later this week, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

The mutual fund, India's biggest in terms of assets under management, is acting as one of the anchor investors for the issue, with a commitment of 7.50 billion rupees, the bankers said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The planned 75 billion-rupee issue would be the group's largest-ever rupee bond sale.

SBI Mutual Fund and Adani Power did not respond to email queries.

Adani Power is looking to raise 28.60 billion rupees through a two-year option and 26.90 billion rupees via a three-year note.

SBI MF will buy 4.50 billion rupees and three billion rupees of these papers as the anchor investor, the bankers said.

The Adani unit will pay a coupon of 8.00% and 8.20% on the two- and three-year bonds, and 8.30% and 8.40% on four- and five-year papers.

The remaining 6.75 billion rupees and 12.75 billion rupees will be raised through four- and five-year papers, respectively, the bankers said.

Trust Investment Advisors, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are the arrangers for the issue.

The lenders have will also back the issue by providing commitments worth 3.31 billion rupees and 3 billion rupees, respectively, the bankers said.

The banks did not reply to an email seeking comment.

The bonds are rated 'AA' by Crisil and India Ratings, with the coupons set to step up by 25 basis points for every notch rating downgrade.

Earlier this financial year, another group company, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone APSE.NS, raised 50 billion rupees by placing 15-year bonds directly with Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS.

($1 = 91.5630 Indian rupees)

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

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Updates for morning trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

BENGALURU, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares declined on Monday, dragged by index heavyweights Reliance and ICICI Bank after they missed their quarterly profit estimates, while Wipro tumbled on subdued revenue forecast for the March quarter.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 0.68% to 25,518.9, while the Sensex .BSESN shed 0.7% to 82,974.84 as of 10:01 a.m. IST.

Fourteen of the 16 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 fell 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

Heavyweights Reliance RELI.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS were the biggest drags, falling 2.5% and 3.1%, respectively.

Reliance missed December-quarter profit estimates on weakness in its retail business and higher expenses, while ICICI Bank reported a lower-than-expected profit due to elevated provisions following a supervisory review.

IT index .NIFTYIT fell 1%, dragged by Wipro WIPR.NS, which lost 7.2%.

The country's fourth-largest IT services firm forecast weaker-than-expected revenue growth for the ongoing March quarter after deal booking fell to a six-quarter low in the December period.

"Mixed earnings from frontline stocks have kept markets in a cautious zone, caught in a continued tug of war between cautious bears and selective buying by bulls," said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities.

Sentiment was further dented after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on eight European Union members until Washington is allowed to buy Greenland.

The fresh tariff threats have amplified geopolitical and trade uncertainty, while relentless foreign outflows have further unsettled markets, Tapse said.

Foreign portfolio investors have offloaded $2.5 billion worth of Indian equities so far in January, following record outflows of $19 billion in 2025.

Among other stocks, Tech Mahindra TEML.NS rose 3.3% after surpassing third-quarter revenue expectations, while RBL Bank RATB.NS fell 7.1% on missing quarterly forecast.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)

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MUMBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Indian private lender ICICI Bank ICBK.NS reported a lower-than-expected profit for the third quarter on Saturday, as it boosted provisions for bad loans and other contingencies following a supervisory review.

The bank's board also approved the reappointment of current chief executive Sandeep Bakshi for a further two years starting October 2026. Bakshi has led the bank since 2018.

The country’s second-largest private bank by market capitalisation posted a standalone net profit of 113.18 billion Indian rupees ($1.25 billion) for the three months to end-December, compared with 117.92 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of 123.54 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Provisions more than doubled to 25.56 billion rupees, which the bank attributed to an adjustment following the Reserve Bank of India's annual supervisory review, without giving further details.

ICICI Bank's third-quarter net interest income rose 7.7% to 219.32 billion rupees, aided by a 11.5% rise in domestic loans. Its deposits grew 9.2% during the quarter.

India's major lenders posted double-digit percent loan growth in the December quarter amid festive-season demand and tax cuts aimed at spurring consumption in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

The RBI's cuts to benchmark interest rates by a cumulative 125 basis points since February last year have also boosted appetite for credit.

ICICI's net interest margin, a key measure of the bank’s profitability, was stable at 4.3%.

Asset quality improved marginally, with its gross non-performing asset ratio at 1.53% at the end of December, compared with 1.58% at the end of September.

($1 = 90.6820 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan and Ira Dugal in Mumbai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Kirsten Donovan)

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BENGALURU, Jan 13 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS reported a 20% rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by higher investment income.

The insurer's profit rose to 3.9 billion rupees ($43.20 million) for the quarter ended December 31. Investment income swung was at 110.24 billion rupees, compared with an investment loss of 77.22 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts said insurers saw a pickup in demand for insurance products during the quarter after the government cut taxes on life insurance products to zero from 18% earlier.

While the move supported growth, it also removed a tax credit benefit previously available to insurers, weighing on margins, even though the measure is expected to prove beneficial over the long term.

ICICI Prudential's annualised premium equivalent sales, a key metric that gives annualised total value of single premium and recurring premium policies, rose 3.6 % to 25.25 billion rupees for the reported quarter.

The value of new business, or expected profit from new policies, rose 19% to 6.15 billion rupees.

The value of new business margin for the nine months ended December 31 was at 24.4%, compared with 22.8% a year earlier, reflecting a better product mix and cost discipline.

The firm's net premium income fell 3.7% to 118.09 billion rupees for the quarter.

Market-linked insurance plans accounted for 49% of ICICI Prudential Life's overall product mix for the nine-month period, down from 51% a year earlier.

Shares of ICICI Prudential Life were up 3.8% after the results, while India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 0.6%.

Peers SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS and HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS will report later this month.

($1 = 90.2713 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Nishit Navin and Bharath Rajeswaran

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Indian banks are expected to post better annual and sequential earnings in the December quarter, supported by improving loan growth and stable asset quality, though pressure on deposit growth is likely to cap upside, brokerages said.

Analysts expect private sector banks to post average profit after tax growth of about 3.5%–5% year-on-year for October-December, higher than the 2% rise in the year-ago period. State-owned lenders are seen registering a more modest 2.5%–3% rise.

Credit momentum, the pace of loan growth, has strengthened in recent months on festive-season spending and Goods and Services Tax (GST) cuts, signalling a rebound in credit appetite in the world's fastest-growing major economy. Major lenders posted double-digit loan growth in the December quarter.

Net interest income (NII) is expected to improve sequentially as loan growth picks up.

"NII is likely to see a sequential uptick in the December quarter, driven by better loan growth," said Vishal Narnolia, assistant vice-president, research, at ICICI Securities.

Motilal Oswal estimates NII growth of around 6% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter.

Net interest margins (NIMs) are expected to remain flat, as the benefits of lower term deposit rates and recent cash reserve ratio (CRR) cuts offset the lagged impact of cumulative rate cuts.

The Reserve Bank of India has cut the repo rate by 125 basis points since February 2025. Asset quality is expected to remain stable, with easing stress in unsecured retail and microfinance portfolios, while provisions are expected to fall sequentially.

Among non-bank lenders, a recovery in demand across select segments and stable asset quality should underpin performance in the December quarter.

Gold financiers, such as Manappuram Finance MNFL.NS and Muthoot Finance MUTT.NS, are expected to post about 39% growth in assets under management on strong gold loan demand, while vehicle financiers should benefit from improved disbursement momentum amid pent-up demand, tax cuts and festive tailwinds.

By contrast, housing finance companies may report weaker disbursements due to intense competition from banks.

Outside lending, exchanges and brokers are expected to post robust revenue growth on a recovery in derivatives volumes and a rise in commodity trading activity.

Life insurers are also seen reporting strong earnings, supported by tax cuts that boost protection demand, and lower interest rates.

Looking ahead, Narnolia said the March quarter should benefit from deposit repricing and a pickup in unsecured retail segments such as microfinance and credit cards, though lending yields will remain under pressure after the RBI's latest rate cut.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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** India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS climbs 3.6% this week; looks set to gain the most this week since mid-October

** Stock is third-highest percentage gainer on Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is down 2.4% for the week

** ICBK's gains, the second-heaviest stock India's Nifty Bank .NSEBANK index, helped cap the index's losses at 1.4% for the week

** NSEBANK had hit a record high earlier this week as lenders posted strong loan growth recovery, before pulling back on tariff-related worries

** On the day, ICBK down 2.2%

** Stock rated "buy" on avg by 36 analysts covering the stock; median PT 1700 rupees - LSEG data

** In 2025, ICBK rose 4.78% vs Nifty 50's 10.51% rise

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru)

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Dec 31 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• GETS GST DEMAND OF 160.3 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE9xhnhn

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Adds details from paragraph 5

By Vivek Kumar M

Dec 16 (Reuters) - ICICI Prudential Asset Management IICL.NS received bids worth 3 trillion rupees ($33 billion) for its IPO, making it the fourth most subscribed IPO in India.

The $1.2 billion share sale that closed on Tuesday saw the highest bids after IPOs by Reliance Power RPOL.NS in 2007, LG Electronics India LGEL.NS this year, and Bajaj Housing Finance BAJO.NS in 2024.

The share sale by the country's second-largest asset manager sets the stage for India to notch a record year of fundraising. Companies that have hit the market this year include financial firms such as Groww BILO.NS, HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS and Tata Capital TATC.NS.

"The strong pedigree that ICICI Prudential AMC enjoys and the robust outlook for mutual fund industry in India makes this an attractive bet for investors," said Kranthi Bathini, director - equity strategy at WealthMills Securities.

The firm is a joint venture between ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, India's second-largest private lender, and British insurer Prudential PRU.L. The IPO was an offer for sale by Prudential. The firm managed more than 10 trillion rupees ($110 billion) of assets, with a 13.2% share of the market, as of September-end.

Institutional investors led the bids at the IPO with the portion set aside for them subscribed about 124 times.

Ahead of the share sale, Prudential sold a 4.5% stake in the asset manager for about $545 million to marquee investors like Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and the family offices of Azim Premji and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

The shares set aside for non-institutional and retail investors were subscribed 22 times and 2.5 times, respectively. The portion set aside for ICICI Bank's shareholders was subscribed 9.8 times.

The shares are expected to start trading on Friday.

($1 = 90.9210 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Oct 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Blackstone BX.N is the newest entrant to a fundraising party at India’s small lenders. The U.S. private equity group is paying roughly 62 billion rupees ( $705 million) for warrants that would amount to a 9.99% stake in Federal Bank FED.NS. It's a bold call that the mid-tier financial institution can punch well above its weight.

In setting itself up as the single largest shareholder of the bank in India's wealthy Kerala state, Blackstone is backing the vision of new-ish CEO, KVS Manian, who wants to turn Federal into a top-five private sector operator. That would repeat the success of $48 billion Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, where Manian spent three decades and led their corporate business. He was once a candidate to succeed Uday Kotak as CEO but was ultimately passed over in 2023.

It’s an opportune moment for Blackstone to put its dream of owning a bank into action. The Reserve Bank of India is relaxing its high barriers to foreign ownership of private lenders: it allowed Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation 8316.T to acquire a 20% stake in Yes Bank YESB.NS in May and it looks set to clear Dubai-based Emirates NBD's ENBD.DU $3 billion bid for a controlling stake in RBL Bank. There are two issues, however.

The first is that Blackstone is starting from a weak position. It will only hold a minority stake. It may want to increase that shareholding but there is no outlined plan or timeline for that to happen and it will depend on the regulator's blessing. The U.S. group has generated a stunning 41% net internal rate of return on its current Asia private equity fund with the support of a largely control-oriented strategy in India. For now, though, its fortunes are largely in Manian's hands.

The second is that breaking into India's hypercompetitive banking big league looks easier said than done these days. The Blackstone deal will give the bank capital to expand nationally via acquisitions, and there are potential synergies from cross-selling products from its portfolio company ASK Asset & Wealth Management to Federal's customers. But top lenders State Bank of India SBI.NS, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS have a strong grip over mortgages and lucrative salary accounts. Throw in other freshly capitalised rivals, and competition for quality customers looks certain to ramp up fast.

At least Blackstone is only paying a small 7% premium to Federal's undisturbed share price for the chance to live out its banking dream.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

The board of India's Federal Bank on October 24 approved a plan to raise up to 62 billion rupees via a preferential issue of warrants to funds managed by Blackstone. The warrants will convert into shares at a price of 227 rupees per share. When fully converted, the issue will buy the U.S. asset manager a 9.99% stake, making it the bank's largest shareholder.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

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

Oct 14 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Lombard General Insurance ICIL.NS reported a rise in second-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by strong demand for retail health insurance and a rebound in vehicle sales that strengthened its motor insurance segment.

The non-life insurer's profit after tax jumped 18% to 8.2 billion rupees ($92.37 million) for the quarter ended September 30.

Demand for health insurance has surged in India in recent years amid soaring medical costs and heightened awareness, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premiums from ICICI Lombard's retail health insurance segment surged 50% over the year earlier, while the corporate segment reported an around 14% growth.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal attributed the gains in the retail health insurance segment to strong new customer acquisition, suggesting the company has expanded its market share in the category.

Premiums in the motor segment rose about 10% to 27.3 billion rupees, as tax cuts fuelled auto demand towards the end of the quarter after a sluggish few months.

Analysts, however, said the changes to premium recognition rules introduced last October are slowing reported premium growth. Under the new rules, premiums for long-term policies must be spread out over the entire policy period, rather than being recorded all at once.

ICICI Lombard's net premiums earned rose 12% to 56.52 billion rupees in the second quarter. Its gross direct premium income dropped 1.9%, hurt by the accounting change.

The company's combined ratio, a key measure of underwriting profitability, deteriorated to 105.1% from 104.5% a year earlier. A ratio below 100% signals the insurer is earning more in premiums than it is spending on claims and expenses.

ICICI Lombard is backed by ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, one of India's largest private lenders. It offers marine, crop and travel insurance, in addition to motor and health cover.

($1 = 88.7740 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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Sept 17 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• GETS TAX ORDER RAISING DEMAND OF 491.2 MILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Sept 12 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK LTD - RBI APPROVES ICICI BANK TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL 2% SHAREHOLDING

• ICICI BANK - RBI GIVES APPROVAL TO CO FOR PURCHASE OF ADDITIONAL 2% SHAREHOLDING IN ICICI PRUDENTIAL ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY

Source text: ID:nBSE5jJqQS

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Updates with more details in paragraphs 3 & 5

MUMBAI, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The head of treasury at India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS will move to the private lender's securities arm, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

B. Prasanna, who has headed the bank's treasury for nearly nine years, will move as head of corporate finance and investment banking at unlisted unit ICICI Securities, the sources said.

Prasanna will report to ICICI Securities chief executive T.K. Srirang, one of the sources said.

He will be replaced by Shailendra Jhingan, who currently heads ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, the sources said.

Anubhuti Sanghai, currently head of transaction banking at ICICI Bank and non-executive director at the primary dealership, will take over from Jhingan, the sources added.

ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters query on the moves.

In a stock exchange notice earlier in the day, the bank said that Prasanna will cease to be a senior management personnel at the bank due to a transfer within the group, without sharing details.

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Varun H K and Shailesh Kuber)

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, July 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - State Bank of India SBI.NS looks like it's about to become a more frequent capital raiser. This week the country's largest lender, which is 57%-owned by New Delhi, sold 250 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) worth of shares. The rationale was to increase its equity ratios. Yet, even though the deal is India's largest-ever secondary stock placement to institutions, it hardly moves the needle. Ideally, a company wanting to bolster its balance sheet would trim dividends first. But the government wants state-run companies to bump up these payments by 25%.

Oddly, the bank doesn't appear to need to increase its capital. At 10.8%, its common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio is above the regulatory minimum of 8.8%. SBI Chair C.S. Setty said in May the bank has enough "firepower" as it stands to grow its loan book by up to 8 trillion rupees ($93 billion), or 19%.

The issue seems to be that SBI's CET1 ratio is below the 14% average for the Indian banking sector and even further behind the 16% and 18% buffers at privately held peers ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and HDFC Bank HDBK.NS. Since both those rivals trade at higher multiples to book than SBI, there's some logic to wanting to catch up.

The share sale doesn't get it very far, though. SBI has some $421 billion of risk-weighted assets, so the extra $2.9 billion only takes its CET1 ratio to 11.5%.

The additional capital has another effect of reducing the lender's return on equity: apply it to the most recent financial year, and the 17% ROE, per LSEG, would drop by just under a percentage point. That would, on paper, still leave it besting HDFC's 14% showing and lagging ICICI's 18%. But both are cranking out those numbers with much higher capital. Moreover, SBI's ROE is looking harder to sustain with bank credit growing at just over 9%, its slowest pace in three years.

Perhaps Setty and his executives are comfortable with only slightly narrowing its capital gap to peers. Assuming they're not, they have two options: sell more shares or sell more assets. Earlier this year, for example, SBI offloaded a 13% stake in Yes Bank YESB.NS to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T. The lender could follow that up with peddling its remaining 11% chunk in Yes, or selling or listing its general insurer and its asset management subsidiary.

That'll keep SBI and its bankers busy for a while.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

State Bank of India on July 21 said it had completed a sale of shares worth 250 billion rupees ($2.89 billion) to institutional investors. Books were covered 4.5 times, and foreign long-term investors bought 24% of the float, the lender said.

SBI priced the issue at 817 rupees per share, a 1.8% discount to the closing price of 831.70 rupees on July 16, IFR reported on July 18, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the transaction.

Demand for the transaction was led by domestic institutions, with state-backed Life Insurance Corporation of India committing 80 billion rupees, per IFR. Nomura, Marshall Wace, Millennium, HDFC Mutual Fund, Quant Mutual Fund and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund also participated in the issue, the report added.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

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

** India's equity benchmarks Nifty 50 .NSEI and Sensex .BSESN rise 0.4% each, led by top private lenders HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS on strong Q1 results

** Financials .NIFTYFIN rise 1.3%, banks .NSEBANK and private banks .NIFPVTBNK gain 1% each

** HDBK gains 2%; ICBK jumps 2.5% after posting June quarter profits that beat analysts' estimates, aided by healthy loan growth

** HDBK, ICBK results aiding the rise in benchmarks on the day, but a successful trade deal with the U.S. will be critical to sustain the rally, say two analysts

** Seven of the 13 major sectors advance; small-caps .NIFSMCP100 flat, mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 dip 0.4%

** Among individual stocks, Reliance Industries RELI.NS drops 2.2% as multiple brokerages flag weakness in oil-to-chemicals and retail segments as concerns despite Q1 profit beat

** Metal stocks .NIFTYMET gain on hopes of more stimulus measures from China to aid growth momentum

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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July 9 (Reuters) - ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company IICL.NS, India's second-largest mutual fund manager by assets, has filed for an IPO comprising an offer for sale of up to 17.7 million shares, draft papers filed late on Tuesday showed.

The firm is a joint venture between Indian private lender ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, which holds a 51% stake, and British insurer Prudential PRU.L, which owns the remaining 49%.

The IPO will consist of an offer for sale of up to 10% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company's equity share capital by Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited (PCHL), a subsidiary of Prudential.

Separately, Prudential said PCHL has entered an agreement with ICICI Bank to sell up to 2% of the asset manager's stake to ICICI ahead of the IPO.

In February, Prudential had said it was considering listing its Indian joint venture.

In June, Bloomberg News reported that the company was close to filing draft papers for a proposed IPO that may fetch as much as $1.2 billion.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company's profit for the year ended March 31, 2025 was up 29.3% as income from fees and commission rose 38.7%.

The increase in fees and commission was primarily due to an increase in total annual average assets under management to

9.01 trillion rupees ($105.08 billion) compared to 6.46 trillion rupees in the previous year, it said in the draft papers.

Morgan Stanley India, Axis Capital, BofA Securities India, Citigroup Global Markets India are among the book running lead managers of the offering.

($1 = 85.7440 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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June 27 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - ACQUISITION OF ADDITIONAL STAKE IN ICICI PRUDENTIAL ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY

• ICICI BANK LTD - APPROVES PURCHASE OF UP TO 2.0% ADDITIONAL SHAREHOLDING

Source text: ID:nBSE18jl0T

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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MUMBAI, June 25 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS plans to raise 10 billion rupees ($116.30 million), which includes a greenshoe option of 5 billion rupees, through the sale of Basel III compliant tier II bonds maturing in 15 years, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

The private sector lender has invited coupon and commitment bids from bankers and investors on Thursday, they said.

The bonds will have a call option at the end of 10 years.

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

Here is the list of deals reported so far on June 25:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.9820 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

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