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AskMarketsLimited Public PreviewAskMarketsLimited Public PreviewICICI is India's best-run big private bank, and it is priced like it. The deposit war and RBI easing squeeze margins just as investors pay 2.7 times book — resilience is the whole story.
India's banks are fighting a war over deposits, and the RBI's rate turn is squeezing the spread every lender lives on. ICICI Bank sits atop that fight, priced at 2.7 times book while state rivals fetch a third as much 1. The premium rests on one belief — that its margins and clean retail book outlast the squeeze. The next few quarters test that belief.
The mechanism is timing: benchmark-linked loans reprice faster than fixed deposits, so easing hits loan yields first. ICICI defends itself with low-cost current-and-savings deposits and a cautious retail posture — revenue growth near 11% trails the small-finance pack 2. The Street backs the defence: 41 analysts, a Strong Buy consensus, a mean target near ₹1,730 3. Six-month performance agrees — ICICI up 7%, peers down 4.
Low-cost CASA mix blunts the industry deposit war; margins hold better than peers
Floating loans reprice down before deposits; first leg of RBI easing pinches yields
Cautious retail posture under RBI's unsecured-credit watch; slippages contained, premium defended
2.72x book vs 1.07x peer median; quality rotation rewards it, but leaves no room to slip
| Company | Mkt cap | P/E | ROE | OPM | Rev 3Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDFCBANK | 10.82L cr | 13.7 | 14.3% | — | 26.9% |
| ICICIBANK | 9.72L cr | 17.3 | 17.1% | — | 17.3% |
| KOTAKBANK | 4.38L cr | 21.9 | 11.4% | — | 18.3% |
| AXISBANK | 3.86L cr | 13.9 | 13.2% | — | 14.9% |
| IDBI | 92.1k cr | 9.9 | 14.2% | — | 12.1% |
| FEDERALBNK | 79.7k cr | 17.0 | 12.0% | — | 18.5% |