ICICI surges over 9%, m-cap up Rs 14,711 cr on Q4, NPA reforms

ICICI Bank today zoomed over 9 per cent, adding Rs 14,711 crore to its market valuation, driven by a five-fold jump in March quarter profit and the Cabinet nod for a mechanism for quicker NPA resolution.
The stock soared 9.24 per cent to end at Rs 297.95 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 9.95 per cent to Rs 299.90 -- its 52-week high.
On the NSE, it advanced by 9.18 per cent to close at Rs 297.80.
The stock is the biggest gainer on both the key indices -- the Sensex and the Nifty.
Led by the sharp rally in the stock, the company's market valuation went up by Rs 14,711.36 crore to Rs 1,73,573.36 crore.

On the volume front, 124.61 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE during the day and over 11 crore changed hands at the NSE.

The rally in the stock was instrumental in propelling the 30-share index higher by 231.41 points to 30,126.21.
The largest private lender yesterday reported a five-fold jump in its March quarter profit at Rs 2,082.75 crore, but the asset quality pain, which had dented its bottomline a year ago, continued to persist.
On a standalone basis, profit soared to Rs 2,024.64 crore, from Rs 701.89 crore in the year-ago period, but was down from Rs 2,441 crore in the December quarter.

The gross non-performing asset ratio shot up to 7.89 per cent, from 5.21 per cent a year earlier, and 7.20 per cent in the December quarter. The total provisions went down to Rs 2,898.22 crore, from Rs 3,326.21 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year and provision coverage ratio fell to 53.6 per cent, from the earlier 61 per cent.
The surge in the bank's stock price was also on account of the government's decision to bring in an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank to effectively deal with the problem of mounting bad loans in the banking sector.

A proposal to amend Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act through the ordinance route was approved by the Cabinet yesterday.