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Business Standard
18-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Axis Bank's Arjun Chowdhury resigns; Gambhir elevated to executive director
Axis Bank, India's third-largest private sector lender, on Friday informed exchanges that Arjun Chowdhury, Group Executive overseeing affluent banking, cards, payments, and retail lending, has resigned to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. Additionally, the bank has elevated Neeraj Gambhir, currently Group Executive in charge of treasury, markets, and wholesale banking products, to the position of Whole-Time Director, designated as 'Executive Director,' effective August 4. In his resignation letter, Chowdhury said, '… I have decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path outside Axis.' Chowdhury joined Axis Bank after the acquisition of Citibank India's consumer business on March 1, 2023. He had been with Citibank for close to 30 years, and prior to the merger, he was the country head (consumer bank) of Citibank India. Regarding Gambhir's appointment, the bank said he has been appointed for a period of three years from the effective date of his appointment and is subject to the approval of the bank's shareholders and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Gambhir, who joined the private-sector lender in May 2020, was MD with Nomura India before Axis. Previously, he was MD with Lehman Brothers, India. Gambhir has also worked with ICICI Bank. Gambhir's appointment comes in the wake of Rajiv Anand, deputy MD, Axis Bank retiring in August. Axis Bank's senior leadership has seen some churn lately. In June last year, Sumit Bali, group executive overseeing retail lending, quit and later joined Yes Bank. The bank's stock took a beating on Friday, with shares of the bank plummeting over 5 per cent on the BSE, after the bank reported weak earnings, due to significantly higher slippages. The bank reported a 4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit to Rs 5,806 crore for the April–June quarter of FY26 (Q1FY26), due to a significant rise in slippages. It reported fresh slippages of Rs 8,200 crore, up 71 per cent YoY and sequentially in Q1FY26. 'Credit cost at 140bps in Q1FY26 (vs 70bps in FY25) was driven by a change in accounting policy towards NPA recognition for certain cash credit, overdraft, and one-time settlement accounts. This had an impact of ~100bps on slippages and ~30bps on credit costs,' said Macquarie Research in a report, adding that even after adjusting for this accounting change, credit costs of 110bps were well above those of private peers. The bank's management highlighted that it expects no other policy changes and that the current change is not driven by regulatory diktat. The bank's loan and deposit growth was muted in Q1, raising concerns about the bank's growth plans going forward. 'Axis Bank targets loan growth 300bps higher than industry levels, which appears to be a challenging task given current trends. Muted deposit growth, in comparison to private peers, will also restrict loan growth,' said Motilal Oswal in a report, adding that the bank's net interest margin (NIM) is likely to remain under pressure once the impact of the remaining 75bps rate cut flows in Q3FY26. 'Sustained moderation in retail loan growth could also hamper NIMs, while higher credit costs imply downside risk to our return on assets (ROA) estimates,' the report said. 'The discussion hereon will be centred on asset quality outcomes. It is difficult to ascertain the eventual impact, but the direction and drift may improve hereon. Movement of net slippages and credit cost will be the single-most important factor in the near term to rebuild investor confidence and core performance (NIMs may see a higher impact in Q2), with Axis Bank's ability to retrace and sustain that growth,' Elara Securities said in a note.
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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Citibank India expects a strong year for ECM business as IPOs pick up
Citibank India expects a strong year for its equity capital market business as initial public offerings (IPOs) pick up after a slow start in 2025, the Wall Street bank's India country head said. "Capital raising on the equity capital market side remains a big opportunity with a very strong pipeline and quite a few billion-dollar IPOs in that," K Balasubramanian, who leads the business in the Indian subcontinent, said in an interview in Mumbai late on Monday. Citibank has expanded its investment banking team in India from 28 to 38 over the past year and plans to continue adding bankers to meet the growing opportunity, he said, declining to share details. India's IPO market had its best-ever year in 2024, with $20.5 billion raised. After a sluggish start, activity has picked up this year with firms such as non-bank lender Tata Capital, payment firm Pine Labs, WeWork India and LG Electronics India unit planning to tap the market. "The pipeline includes start-ups who are now finding a market and global corporations who have grown their India businesses over a period of time and are now looking to unlock value," Balasubramanian said. Institutional and investment banking have become core to Citibank's business in India since it withdrew from the retail banking market in 2023. The bank's profit after tax rose to ₹6,193 crore ($722.19 million) in the year ended March 2025, up 32 per cent since the exit. Revenue was up 28 per cent over the same period to ₹22,173 crore. NEW BUSINESS FOCUS Balasubramanian, who stepped into his role in April, is also focused on growing new business. "The second thing that is going to play out for us are some of the new products we have started rolling out on the market, such as securitisation, commercial real estate financing, agency financing and emerging market credit trading," Balasubramanian said. The commercial property business, previously seen as risky in India, is now being driven by demand from large multinationals setting up global capability centres in the country, drawing institutional investors such as Blackstone to the market. "We are doing it cautiously with only the best quality promoters," he said. Citi also sees opportunity in India's need for infrastructure and climate transition financing where large global funds are looking to invest. "As part of this business we are basically looking at providing capital to our clients through a combination of our own capital in the form of bonds, and also getting market players to participate along with us," Balasubramanian said.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Citibank India sees 'billion-dollar IPOs' boosting business, country head says
Citibank India expects a strong year for its equity capital market business as initial public offerings (IPOs) pick up after a slow start in 2025, the Wall Street bank's India country head said. "Capital raising on the equity capital market side remains a big opportunity with a very strong pipeline and quite a few billion-dollar IPOs in that," K Balasubramanian, who leads the business in the Indian subcontinent, said in an interview in Mumbai late on Monday. Citibank has expanded its investment banking team in India from 28 to 38 over the past year and plans to continue adding bankers to meet the growing opportunity, he said, declining to share details. India's IPO market had its best-ever year in 2024, with $20.5 billion raised. After a sluggish start, activity has picked up this year with firms such as non-bank lender Tata Capital, payment firm Pine Labs, WeWork India and LG Electronics India unit planning to tap the market. "The pipeline includes start-ups who are now finding a market and global corporations who have grown their India businesses over a period of time and are now looking to unlock value," Balasubramanian said. Live Events Institutional and investment banking have become core to Citibank's business in India since it withdrew from the retail banking market in 2023. The bank's profit after tax rose to 61.93 billion Indian rupees ($722.19 million) in the year ended March 2025, up 32% since the exit. Revenue was up 28% over the same period to 221.73 billion rupees. NEW BUSINESS FOCUS Balasubramanian, who stepped into his role in April, is also focused on growing new business. "The second thing that is going to play out for us are some of the new products we have started rolling out on the market, such as securitisation, commercial real estate financing, agency financing and emerging market credit trading," Balasubramanian said. The commercial property business, previously seen as risky in India, is now being driven by demand from large multinationals setting up global capability centres in the country, drawing institutional investors such as Blackstone to the market. "We are doing it cautiously with only the best quality promoters," he said. Citi also sees opportunity in India's need for infrastructure and climate transition financing where large global funds are looking to invest. "As part of this business we are basically looking at providing capital to our clients through a combination of our own capital in the form of bonds, and also getting market players to participate along with us," Balasubramanian said. ($1 = 85.7525 Indian rupees)
Economic Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Citibank India sees 'billion-dollar IPOs' boosting business, country head says
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads NEW BUSINESS FOCUS Citibank India expects a strong year for its equity capital market business as initial public offerings (IPOs) pick up after a slow start in 2025, the Wall Street bank's India country head said."Capital raising on the equity capital market side remains a big opportunity with a very strong pipeline and quite a few billion-dollar IPOs in that," K Balasubramanian, who leads the business in the Indian subcontinent, said in an interview in Mumbai late on has expanded its investment banking team in India from 28 to 38 over the past year and plans to continue adding bankers to meet the growing opportunity, he said, declining to share IPO market had its best-ever year in 2024, with $20.5 billion raised. After a sluggish start, activity has picked up this year with firms such as non-bank lender Tata Capital, payment firm Pine Labs, WeWork India and LG Electronics India unit planning to tap the market."The pipeline includes start-ups who are now finding a market and global corporations who have grown their India businesses over a period of time and are now looking to unlock value," Balasubramanian and investment banking have become core to Citibank's business in India since it withdrew from the retail banking market in 2023. The bank's profit after tax rose to 61.93 billion Indian rupees ($722.19 million) in the year ended March 2025, up 32% since the exit. Revenue was up 28% over the same period to 221.73 billion who stepped into his role in April, is also focused on growing new business."The second thing that is going to play out for us are some of the new products we have started rolling out on the market, such as securitisation, commercial real estate financing, agency financing and emerging market credit trading," Balasubramanian commercial property business, previously seen as risky in India, is now being driven by demand from large multinationals setting up global capability centres in the country, drawing institutional investors such as Blackstone to the market."We are doing it cautiously with only the best quality promoters," he also sees opportunity in India's need for infrastructure and climate transition financing where large global funds are looking to invest."As part of this business we are basically looking at providing capital to our clients through a combination of our own capital in the form of bonds, and also getting market players to participate along with us," Balasubramanian said.($1 = 85.7525 Indian rupees)
