ICICI Bank beats quarterly estimates

MUMBAI, Jan 21 (Reuters): India's ICICI Bank reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Saturday, helped by robust loan growth, although its net interest margin (NIM) shrank for the fourth straight quarter.
The country's second-biggest private bank reported a record high standalone net profit of 102.72 billion rupees ($1.24 billion) in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to analysts' expectations of 100.25 billion rupees, as per LSEG data.
ICICI's NIM - the difference between interest obtained on loans and paid on deposits expressed as per centage - fell to 4.43 per cent from 4.65 per cent last year. It was at 4.53 per cent in the second quarter.
Indian lenders have been reporting double-digit loan growth consistently over the past few months owing to higher demand, but rising deposit costs have squeezed their margins.
Earlier this week, HDFC Bank, India's biggest private lender, reported weak margins for a second consecutive quarter.