ICICI Bank continued to recede despite the drop in panic withdrawals by depositors mainly in Gujarat on Friday and Saturday.
On Tuesday, ICICI Bank slipped 2.1% to Rs 128 on BSE. The scrip witnessed volatility in early trades. It fell as much as 4.7% to Rs 124.55 then. 340,000 shares changed hands on the counter on BSE in morning trades.
On Friday (11 April 2003), the scrip lost 2.1% to Rs 130.80. The stock had already come off its higher levels in the past few weeks. From Rs 149.80 on 3 March 2003, the scrip lost 12.6% to Rs 130.80 on Friday 11 April 2003.
ICICI Bank witnessed withdrawal pressure from accounts holders after a vernacular evening paper in Surat on Thursday ran a story stating that the bank may face a possible liquidity crisis. That triggered depositors queuing up in several places to withdraw money from the bank. The reportedly faced withdrawals of about Rs 300-400 crore (Rs 3-4 billion) on Friday and Saturday in Gujarat and some other parts of the country.
RBI on Saturday issued a statement saying that ICICI Bank's financial position was sound and it had adequate liquidity. ICICI Bank also issued a statement on Saturday on the soundness of its cash position. "With reference to mischievous and baseless rumours regarding ICICI Bank's financial position floated in Gujarat dated 11 April 2003, ICICI Bank has informed BSE that it would like to reassure its depositors and customers that it is one of the premier banks of the country and there has been no adverse change in the financial position of the bank. The bank is a completely solvent and profit making organisation. The depositors', bondholders' and lenders' funds are safe with the bank," the bank said in a statement on Saturday.
In another statement issued today the bank said that it has met all withdrawal demands over the last three days from its own cash resources and that it is not facing any liquidity crisis and has more than sufficient funding resources available to meet all its liability payments and other commitments. Despite a holiday, ICICI Bank kept open its branches on Sunday and Monday to deal with the situation.
For the quarter ended 31 December 2002, ICICI Bank earned a net profit of Rs 330.3 crore (Rs 3.3 billion) on a total income of Rs 2,826.53 crore (Rs 28.26 billion). The results for the quarter ended 31 December 2002 include the results of the erstwhile ICICI and its subsidiaries, amalgamated with the bank wef 30 March 2002. The financials for the quarter are therefore not comparable.
As on 31 December 2002, the bank's non-performing customer assets were Rs 3012 crore (Rs 30.12 billion), constituting 4.90% of customer assets. The bank continues to focus on restructuring of intrinsically viable companies as well as recovery actions, including the institution of proceedings under the Securitisation & Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002. It also plans to focus on retail banking, and is expected to declare better dividends to its shareholders in the near future. Retail operations contributed 40% to the total revenues of ICICI Bank for the full year ended 31 March 2002.
The bank's capital adequacy as on 31 December 2002 was 12.6% (including Tier-1 capital adequacy of 8.2%).
BSE code: 532174
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