The profit after tax increased by 63 per cent to Rs. 65.25 crore for Q1-FY2002 from Rs. 40.14 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2000 (Q1-FY2001). The strong profit growth in PAT was driven by an increase of 75 per cent in net interest income to Rs. 149.70 crore from Rs. 85.37 crore and 130 per cent in core fee income to Rs. 61.17 crore in Q1-FY2002 from Rs. 26.62 crore for Q1-FY2001.

Operating expenses (other than staff cost which includes the full impact of the amalgamation of Bank of Madura Limited), for the current quarter were nearly at the same level as the quarter ended March 31, 2001 (Q4-FY2001). The cost to income ratio is now under 50%.

ICICI Bank continues to be the leading private sector bank in the country. Deposits grew to Rs. 17,468 crore at June 30, 2001 as against Rs. 8,740 crore at June 30, 2000 and Rs. 16,378 crore at March 31, 2001. The share of ICICI Bank in total deposits of the banking system increased to 1.55 per cent from 1.03 per cent at June 30, 2000 and 1.44 at March 31, 2001. Retail deposits constituted 62 per cent of total deposits at June 30, 2001 compared to 42 per cent at June 30, 2000, reflecting the Bank's successful retail thrust. Savings deposits registered robust growth of more than 200 per cent to Rs. 2,029 crore at June 30, 2001 from Rs. 672 crore on June 30, 2000.

ICICI Bank's customer assets (including credit substitutes) increased 92 percent to Rs. 10,292 crore at June 30, 2001 from Rs. 5,361 crore at June 30, 2000. ICICI Bank focuses on building customer relationships and using technology as a key differentiator in its products and services. ICICI Bank continued its focus on maintaining high quality of business with 84 per cent of incremental exposure being to clients rated 'A' and above.

The ratio of net non-performing assets (NPAs) to customer assets was 1.31 per cent at June 30, 2001 compared to 1.44 per cent at March 31, 2001. The provisioning coverage against NPAs was 63.3 per cent at June 30, 2001. The Bank also maintains a general provision of 0.50% on standard assets and a provision for operational risks at 0.50% of the paid-up capital.

During the first quarter, the Bank added more than 450,000 new customer accounts, including about 1,43,000 savings bank accounts, and now has about 37,00,000 accounts. This includes about 18,00,000 savings accounts and 92,000 NRI accounts. The Bank has 6,40,000 Internet banking customer accounts.

To efficiently distribute its products and services, ICICI Bank has developed multiple access channels comprising lean brick and mortar branches, ATMs, call centers and Internet banking. At June 30, 2001, the Bank had a network of 357 branches and 37 extension counters. Its network of 546 ATMs is the largest in the country accounting for nearly 18 per cent of all ATMs in the country. Customers in 37 cities can now access account information over the telephone. These investments in channel infrastructure have enabled ICICI Bank to achieve rapid growth in its retail business.

ICICI Bank's total capital adequacy ratio was 12.53 per cent at June 30, 2001, of which Tier I capital constituted 11.19 per cent. In order to further strengthen its capital adequacy and leverage its balance sheet, the Bank raised Tier II capital in July 2001 by private placement of unsecured redeemable bonds of Rs. 220 crore.

ICICI Bank's net income increased to Rs. 56.20 crore for Q1-FY2002 from Rs. 44.60 crore for Q1-FY2001, registering a growth of 26 per cent. The profit before tax increased by 56 per cent from Rs. 55.74 crore for Q1-FY2001 to Rs. 86.80 crore for Q1-FY2002.

For further press queries please call Charudatta Deshpande at 91-22-26538208
or e-mail:charudatta.deshpande@icicbank.com.

Note : (a) Rs. = Indian Rupees (b) 1 crore = 10 million

Except for the historical information contained herein, statements in this Release which contain words or phrases such as 'will', 'would', etc., and similar expressions or variations of such expressions may constitute 'forward-looking statements'. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to our ability to obtain statutory and regulatory approvals and to successfully implement our strategy, future levels of non-performing loans, our growth and expansion in business, the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses, technological implementation and changes, the actual growth in demand for banking products and services, investment income, cash flow projections, our exposure to market risks as well as other risks detailed in the reports filed by us with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bank undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof.