ICICI Bank shares inched higher on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the re-appointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank.

Share Market Live

NSE

The re-appointment will be effective from October 15, 2021, till October 3, 2023.

“The shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on August 9, 2019, had already approved the appointment of Mr Bakhshi for a period effective from October 15, 2018, up to October 3, 2023,” ICICI Bank said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.

Read here:

ICICI Bank gets RBI nod to re-appoint Sandeep Bakhshi as MD & CEO for 2 years

Global brokerage firm Jefferies maintained a ‘buy’ call on the stock and has raised the target price to Rs 900 from Rs 830 per share. The brokerage raised earnings forecast by four percent over FY23-24 as it factors the benefits of an increased share of SME loans.

“ICICI Bank is at an inflexion point of leveraging investment in SME/business banking platform for better growth and profitability. This relies on a customised digital platform, better service, competitive rate, and wide network,” Jefferies said.

Currently, the bank’s SME and business banking loans of Rs 700 billion are at nine percent of its loans that implies a market share of 4-6 percent in SME lending market of Rs 20 trillion and the bank sees scope for gaining share.

“SME/business-banking loans grew strongly at 49 percent YoY in 1QFY22 and we believe that segment can continue to grow at 24 percent Cagr over FY21-24e as bank leverages its platform. This should lift shares of such loans to 11 percent by FY24 that will aid NIMs and fees, but credit costs and RWA may be a bit higher,” Jefferies said.

At 10:00 am, the shares of ICICI Bank were trading 0.14 percent higher at Rs 695.35 apiece on the BSE.

Catch all the latest updates from the stock market here.

(Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on CNBCTV18.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. CNBCTV18.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.)

First Published:Aug 25, 2021 10:33 AM IST