HDFC Bank vs ICICI Bank: Who performed better in Q4FY26? Check details

The banking sector result season has started with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank reporting their quarterly and yearly results on Saturday. Following the results, ICICI Bank shares and HDFC Bank shares are buzzing in trade on Monday afternoon. The ICICI Bank shares opened nearly 1.2% higher, and the HDFC Bank shares opened in the red with marginal losses. Both banks reported a steady set of numbers for the quarter. However, in some areas, ICICI Bank outperformed HDFC Bank.

Core income growth

The core interest income growth for both banks remained strong as double-digit credit growth aided strong key business income. HDFC Bank’s net interest income jumped 3.2% YoY to ₹33,080 crore as compared to ₹32,070 crore. ICICI Bank posted 8.4% YoY jump in net interest income at ₹22,900 crore as compared to ₹21,193 crore in the same period last year. ICICI Bank scored a superior net-interest margin at 4.32%, down from 4.41% in the previous year, same quarter. HDFC Bank posted a net interest margin of 3.38% vs 3.5% in the same period last year. The contraction in margins is primarily due to a lower interest rate scenario throughout FY26.

Asset quality

On the asset quality front, both banks reported strong improvement throughout the year. HDFC Bank’s GNPA and NNPA for Q4FY26 stood at 1.2% and 0.4% for Q4FY26 vs 1.3% and 0.4% in the same period last year. ICICI Bank’s GNPA and NNPA stood at 1.40% and 0.33% for Q4FY26 vs 1.67% and 0.39% in Q4FY25. Both banks reported a sharp improvement in retail NPAs, which boosted the overall asset quality for the banks. The corporate segment NPA additions remained stagnant with no major worries as of now. Broadly, the two private sector leaders are in their best stage in terms of their asset quality.

Bottomline

On the bottom line front, the ICICI Bank reported 8.5% YoY jump in net profit at ₹13,702 crore, and HDFC Bank’s net profit jumped 9% YoY to ₹19,211 crore. The strong growth in the bottom line was primarily driven by lower provisioning for the quarter. ICICI Bank’s provisions for the quarter stood at ₹96 crore as compared to ₹890 crore in the previous year’s same quarter. Similarly, HDFC Bank’s provisions for the quarter dropped 18.2% YoY to ₹2,610 crore as compared to ₹3,190 crore. On the other hand, ICICI Bank reported treasury losses of ₹106 crore as against ₹239 crore in the same period last year.

Ownership structure

For Q4FY26, FIIs were the net sellers in both banks by trimming their exposure significantly for the past three quarters, while DIIs continued to pile up the stake. ICICI Bank’s Q4FY26 shareholding pattern suggests that FII ownership is down to 43.87% vs 45.56% in the previous quarter. Similarly, HDFC Bank’s FII ownership for the quarter fell from 47.67% in Q3FY26 to 44.05% in Q4FY26. On the contrary, the DII’s increased their stake in HDFC Bank from 37% in Q3FY26 to 40% in Q4FY26. Similarly, ICICI Bank’s DII ownership increased from 45.06% to 46.7%.