ICICI Securities Limited Broker Research reports

We hosted City Union Bank (CUB)’s senior management (business heads and risk personnel) in Chennai. The bank mentioned that its direct exposure to textiles (US export) is manageable at INR 2.2bn or ~40bps of loans.

We attended a group interaction of investors with IOCL management. Laying out his vision of a comprehensive roadmap for growth, Chairman MR AK Sawhney highlighted with the acronym SPRINT – Strengthening core business, Propel cost optimisation, Reinforce customer centricity, Integrate tech & innovation, Nurture leadership and be Transition ready.

Godrej Agrovet (GOAGRO) has exhibited a pronounced and sustained recovery across its metrics over the last 12–18 months, as cost and margin gains prevailed over soft volume growth.

Other income to PBT is ~40% in FY25. The valuation multiple (P/E) based on core business earnings, i.e., excluding cash and tax-adjusted other income, stands at 71x on FY25 earnings. The company gained market
shares in both washing machine and refrigerators in FY25, despite a highly competitive landscape.

We hosted Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)’s senior management in Chennai. Investors discussions were centred around the SME portfolio’s health, especially export-oriented units amidst higher US tariffs and change, if any, in the operating environment for the SME units.

The primary as well as secondary sales were impacted in Q2FY26 due to excess trade inventory at beginning of Q2FY26 and five weeks difference in announcement and implementation of GST reduction – that’s the chief takeaway from the management call.

In our first meeting with Naveen, we didn't discuss his views on hair oil category. In our opinion, Naveen is a result-oriented professional with a track record of building institutional businesses by turning around and accelerating P&L (growth) and launching categories aided by his techno-commercial experience coupled with on-ground execution.

Alkem Laboratories’ CEO, Dr. Vikas Gupta, is targeting double-digit revenue growth in the medium term, driven by strong hold in India (68% of sales), other international markets and new ventures.

We hosted Tata Communications (TCom)’s management – Mr. Kabir Ahmed Shakir, CFO – for an NDR in the UK. Summarily, we learn, TCom remains excited about its digital business as key parameters are advancing encouragingly, and order book (OB) growth remains healthy.

We hosted Aadhar Housing Finance (Aadhar) in Singapore for an investor roadshow.

We remain constructive on Havells, as its FY25 annual report indicates aggressive investments across key business parameters such as R&D, distribution, branding and capex.

For Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), recovery from technical written-off (RTWO) contributed ~57bps to RoA (pre-tax) of ~2.3% for FY25. We note that disclosures and accounting for RTWO vary across banks; yet, KVB appears to exhibit the highest contribution from RTWO.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan) is amongst the few SFBs which had been successful in scaling loan portfolio to INR 333bn by Q1FY26 from INR 75bn in FY18 with an average credit cost of ~150bps (ex-Covid).

We attended the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Investor Day 2025 this week where CESC unveiled its ‘Growth Vision 2030’. At the crux, it seeks to double profits by FY30 via the levers of Distribution Company (DISCOM) capex, RE generation and solar manufacturing.

We remain constructive on 3M India after analysing its FY25 annual report. There is focus on local manufacturing. Revenues from local manufacturing have increased from 52.9% in FY14 to 59.4% in FY25.

Vedanta (VEDL), with its bid amount of ~INR 170bn (staggered over 5 years), has reportedly (Link) emerged as the highest bidder for acquiring the assets of Jaiprakash Associate (JAL).

We view Affle 3i (Affle) as a play on the structural shift of ad spend towards digital in India and other emerging markets, where digital penetration is still low versus global benchmarks.

Samvardhana Motherson International (SAMIL), at its analyst meet, presented its Vision 2030 where the company shared its aspiration to grow its gross revenue ~4x to USD 108bn over the next five years.

In a deal valued at ~USD 225mn, CEAT has completed its acquisition of the CAMSO brand’s off-highway construction equipment-bias tyre and tracks business from Michelin.

The recent reduction in GST rates from 28% to 18% across most segments in the auto sector may inject fresh demand momentum. This is in addition to the recent rationalisation of personal income tax slabs, interest rate cuts and the upcoming Pay Commission revisions.