Axis Bank to relook its RoE target in view of Covid-19

Mumbai: Axis Bank will have to 'recalibrate' its fiscal 2022 timeline for achieving its target of 18% return on equity (RoE) in view of the economic impact caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, CEO Amitabh Chaudhry said.

Chaudhry had set the 18% RoE target for the bank by fiscal 2022 after taking over as CEO last year but a huge provison the bank had to take in the quarter ended March 2020 has impacted the bank's RoE.

Results released on Tuesday showed that the bank slipped to a loss of Rs 1388 crore im the quarter ended March mainly due to the Rs 7,730 crore provisions made during the quarter which included a Rs 3,000 crore provision due to the Covid crisis.


As a result the bank's RoE declined to for the fiscal ended March 2020 dropped to 2.34% from 8.09% in March 2019.
In a call with reporters, Chaudhry acknowledged that the bank's RoE target was under threat.

"We will be required to recalibrate the timeline for our strategic targets and RoE target of 18%. Things are still uncertain right now and we will have to relook at them internally," Chaudhry said without giving a timeline.