ICICI Bank slips despite strong Q1 show; stock can rally 12% in 1 month

NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank Ltd slipped as much as 1.62 per cent in trade on Thursday, even though the private sector lender reported 17 per cent rise in quarterly net profit for Q1FY2015, helped by growth in credit demand and higher fee income.

ICICI Bank finally closed 1.1 per cent lower at Rs 1473. It hit a low of Rs 1465.40 and a high of Rs 1505 in trade today.

ICICI's net profit for its fiscal first quarter ended June rose to Rs 2,655 crore ($440 million) from Rs 2,274 crore a year earlier, the bank said on Thursday. Analysts polled by ET Now had expected a net profit of Rs 2,585 crore.

Dealers cite disappointment after net profit when adjusted for other income comes actually below consensus, Reuters reported. The other income section includes treasury gains of 103 crore, from the repatriation of overseas profits in the first quarter of the fiscal year, company data shows.

Technically, the stock is looking bullish on chart and traders can expect further upside in the stock for a near-term target of Rs 1600-1650, which represents an upside of 12 per cent from Thursday's closing price of Rs 1473.

Investors can look at buying the stock on every decline, say analysts.

"The stock is looking bullish on chart and in the past couple of weeks we have seen a decent consolidation on daily chart at higher level," said Vivek Gupta - Director Research, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd.

"It has an immediate resistance of 1515 & support of 1380; traders can expect further upside in the stock. Technically stock has a target of 1597 in near term," he added.

"The stock has shown higher relative strength compared to Nifty and Bank Nifty. Analysts are also seeing some good rollovers with positive momentum in the stock price. Derivative data and technical charts indicate higher strength," said D K Aggarwal, CMD at SMC Investments and Advisors Ltd.

"ICICI Bank can move towards Rs 1,550 levels and has a strong support placed around Rs 1450 levels. Stock is in strong uptrend and investors should hold the stock as we expect it to see levels of Rs 1,650 next month," he added.