The Federal Bank Limited

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q4 FY26 conference call hosted by Federal Bank. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Suvik Roy, Head, Investors Nations, The Petrol Bank Limited. Thank you and over to you sir.

Thank you so much. Good evening and a very warm welcome to everyone on the call. Thank you for taking time to join us today and for your continued engagement with the bank. We definitely value these interactions and look forward to sharing our annual performance as well and along with of course our outlook for the year. We will share with the opening remarks from our MD and our EV will walk you through the key highlights of the year and with the strategic priorities going forward. This will be of course followed by a detailed Q&A like we always do. With that, over to you.

Thank you, Shabbir. Good afternoon, everyone. Before Renkat takes you through the detailed financial performance for the quarter, I would like to share a few reflections as we close out the last year. This marks my first full financial year as MD and CEO of the bank. Over the past 18 months period, our efforts have been directed towards sharpening execution, strengthening our core and aligning the organization firmly with our long-term strategic priorities that we had shared in the analyst meet last year. Our Q4 performance reflects a strong operational quarter with outcomes that are consistent with the direction we have articulated throughout the year. The progress we have seen is not incidental. It is a result of deliberate actions taken across both sides of the balance sheet. We have had a record quarter on several metrics that details of which Venkat will cover later. On the liabilities front, we have undertaken a calibrated restructuring of our deposit profile. Our focus has been on improving the quality and granularity of deposits with a clear pivot toward retail liabilities. We hit a milestone of over 1 lakh crore in CASA. Our sharp focus on CASA and specifically CAR is clearly showing results. As a result of this approach, we have consciously reduced our reliance on high-value deposits, which has contributed to a more stable and cost-efficient funding base. At the same time, we continue to build on our traditional strengths. Our NRI franchise remains a key differentiator and we have further strengthened our leadership position in this segment. NRI deposits have now crossed 1 lakh cost alongside a continued increase in market share, reinforcing the strength and resilience of this franchise. On the asset side, we remain committed to a calibrated shift in our portfolio mix This is inherently a medium-term journey and we are encouraged by the traction seen across most of our identified focus segments. Growth has been broad-based and aligned with our objective of improving risk-adjusted returns in a market where we have seen intense and sometimes irrational rate competition. Our free income trajectory during the year has been extremely encouraging, reflecting improved cross-sell, better product penetration and a more diversified revenue profile. Profitability metrics have also shown resilience. Our ROA has now reverted back to the pre-rate cut levels supported by improved margins and disciplined cost management. During the quarter, we also launched our rent management business. This is an important step in building a stronger mass affluent franchise as well as deepening customer engagement enhancing our SQL and building a more comprehensive financial services proposition for our clients. In parallel, we have taken a more scientific and data-driven approach to our physical network strategy. Our branch expansion and restructuring initiatives are now guided by detailed studies undertaken by us along with reputed experts in the domain. This is helping us build a more efficient, well-distributed and future-ready branch network. In line with our recent brand refresh, our branches have begun transitioning to a renewed and refreshed outlook. The project on reimagining our branch operating model is also making very good progress. As we look ahead, our focus remains unchanged, consistent execution, disciplined growth and continuous strengthening of the franchise. With that, I will hand it over to Venkat to take you through the numbers in more detail.