With the news of Sandeep Bakhshi being appointed as the chief operating officer (COO) of ICICI Bank pouring in, the stock hit a fresh intra day high of 296.55 on the BSE today. The news of appointment came with the bank's MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar deciding to go on an indefinite leave to facilitate an independent probe into sanctioning of Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group.
Even as media reports continue speculation around the future of the top post at the bank, we look at how the stock has moved during all the major developments since Kochhar took charge in 2009.
On December 19, 2008, the bank announced Chanda Kochhar's appointment as CEO and MD of with effect from May 1, 2009. The ICICI Bank stock closed at 85.96 level on that day.
On May 1, when Kochhar took charge, the market was closed and it was a Friday. On May 4, the stock which opened at 89.11 closed 7 points higher at 96.35 on the same day.
On March 15, 2016, Arvind Gupta, an investor in ICICI Bank and Videocon Group accused Kochhar of favouring the Venugopal Dhoot-led conglomerate in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The stock's closing price stood at 201.23 level on that day. Since Kochhar took charge at the bank, the stock clocked over 125% returns till that date.
The letter by Gupta did not seem to deter the rally in stock price as it closed higher for six straight sessions post March 15, 2016. In fact, the stock carried on its gains to next year and closed at 255 level on March 15, 2017.
On January 23, 2018, the stock closed at 362.05, its highest this year buoyed by the market rally which took Sensex, Nifty to all-time highs. Later, the stock fell off it all time highs (intra day) of 365.65 level which it touched on January 29, 2018.
The matter came to light again on March 28, 2018 after the bank board countered allegations of a quid-pro-quo in sanctioning of Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group, and backed CEO Chanda Kochhar, saying that no individual employee, irrespective of his or her position, has the ability to influence credit decision at the bank. The stock closed at 278 level on BSE that day.
It had clocked nearly 212 percent gains since Kochhar took charge as the CEO and MD of the bank.
The stock fell over 6% within three trading sessions (March 29, 30 and April 2) due to the controversy. It fell the most (7 per cent) on April 2 amid reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was set to question ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with the Videocon loan case.
The stock closed at Rs 261 level on the same day. Since then, the stock has been rising amid flow of negative news for the bank. Analysts said the stock had become a good buy when compared to its private peers and short covering.
On Tuesday, the stock closed 0.17% lower to 292 level on the BSE. Yesterday, the stock was top Sensex gainer amid a report that its life insurance venture's CEO Sandeep Bakhshi may be appointed as interim chief at the private sector lender. It closed 3.61% or 10 points higher at Rs 292.50 level.