ICICI Bank shares trade higher post Q4 results; what should investors do? 

Shares of ICICI Bank jumped two per cent higher to hit an intraday high of Rs 761.50 in early trade on BSE after the bank reported its results for the quarter ended March 2022. 

ICICI Bank on Saturday announced that it has recorded a 59 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 7,019 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The profit figure stood at Rs 4,403 crore for the same period last year. 

Also Read: https://www.businesstoday.in/industry/banks/story/icici-bank-q4-results-net-profit-soars-59-to-over-rs-7000-cr-330955-2022-04-23

The stock opened a tad higher at Rs 748 against the previous close of Rs 747.35. With a market capitalisation of more than Rs 5,00,000 crore, the shares stand higher than 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than five day moving averages. 

In FY22, ICICI Bank's standalone net profit grew 44 per cent year-on-year to Rs 23,339 crore from Rs 16,193 crore in the year ended March 31, 2021 

Net interest income (NII) increased by 21 per cent year-on-year to Rs 12,605 crore in the January-March quarter of FY22 from Rs 10,431 crore in Q4FY21. The net interest margin was 4.00 per cent in Q4 of FY22 compared to 3.84 per cent in Q4 of FY21and 3.96 per cent in the quarter ended December 31, 2021. 

Credit Suisse has maintained an 'Outperform' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 870 per share. The brokerage firm has tweaked FY23/24E by one per cent on lower credit costs. However, it continues to believe that the bank will deliver strong earnings. 

Systematix noted that the bank's strong performance continues with all-around improvement in CASA deposit composition, stability in core profitability, negative net delinquency rate and consequently much lower provisions, and higher return ratios. 

"We estimate that the bank’s margin would expand further in FY23 & FY24 and RoAE would improve to ~16% in FY24 (from 15.4% in FY22). We reiterate our BUY rating on ICICI Bank with a target price of Rs 960," it added. 

Goldman Sachs pointed out that the bank is well-positioned to structurally report superior return on assets at closer to 1.9 per cent. It has maintained a 'Buy' on the stock with a target price of Rs 938 per share.