-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
Our unchanged target price of USD35 is 20.2x our projected earnings per ADS (EPADS) for FY 27 (Mar.), vs. peers HDFC's 15x and SBI's 11.7x, which we think fairly reflects ICICI's resilient earnings and our projected ROE of 15.5%-16% for FY 27/FY 28, vs. HDFC's 14%-15% and SBI's 15%-15.5%. We expect ICICI's domestic loan growth to ease but stay strong at a low-teen level p.a. in FY 27/FY 28 (FY 26: +15%). Business and corporate loans will continue to lead the growth, but retail loan growth should also pick up in FY 27 from the positive impact of the GST reform and the strong housing market. We see some pressure on NIM from the 25-bp repo rate reduction in December and competition, but faster growth in higher-yielding business loans and ICICI's relatively high mix of CASA deposits will keep its NIM above the industry's, while the strengthening of its asset quality will bring down provision charges. We lift our EPADS estimate for FY 27 to INR160.78 from INR158.12, and introduce an FY 28 EPADS of INR175.40.