First loss in 16 years for Indian bank
A man speaks on the phone outside an ICICI Bank branch in Kolkata
INTERNATIONAL – ICICI Bank, the third-biggest Indian lender by assets, reported its first quarterly net loss in at least 16 years.
The results come amid uncertainty about the bank’s long-serving chief executive Chanda Kochhar, who is on leave pending the completion of a probe into alleged nepotism charges against her.
Group veteran Sandeep Bakhshi was last month named in a newly-created position of chief operating officer to run the lender in the interim.
While more than 86percent of India’s $150billion (R1.97trillion) worth of non-performing loans at the end of March was with the dominant state-backed lenders, ICICI accounts for the biggest chunk of bad loans among the private sector banks. Net loss came in at 1.2billion rupees (R230million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30.
– REUTERS
Source: iol.co.za
