HDFC Bank Limited

Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer, HDFC Bank. Thank you and over to you, sir.

Okay, thank you. Good evening and welcome to all. We have with us Sashi Jagdishan, MD and CEO. We'll request him to give some opening remarks before we can jump in. Sashi, over to you for any remarks that you have.

Thank you, Srini, and thank you all for joining in on a Saturday evening. You probably would have seen the press release and the investor presentation that the team would have put it up. So let me give you a very brief context as to how we have done on a broad basis before Srini takes over some of the finer points. Within the global context, We believe India is well-placed. RBI has recently commenced cutting rates. The moderation in food inflation and headline inflation also augurs well. We've already seen two rate cuts, and the change in stance from neutral to accommodative is a welcome relief to all of us. RBI intends to increase durable liquidity, which is followed by concrete actions which along with rate cuts will help supporting the GDP growth. For FY26, we expect the GDP to be supported by a pickup in rural spending, discretionary consumer demand, and investment activity. Of course, the goods exports may be impacted until the global trade and tariff situation becomes far more clearer. We acknowledge that the global macroeconomic outlook has become more uncertain due to the recent trade credit related measures and the volatility surrounding them. This may potentially impact global inflation leading to lower growth across economies. Corporates have adopted a wait and watch stance and we are waiting for more clarity. We remain watchful. Coming to the bank, as you recall, We spelt it out in Q4 of last year, and to be more precise, I think somewhere around February. We continue to be on the journey that we spelt out. Our credit deposit ratio has been brought down from the highs at the time of merger, which was at about 110%, to around 96% as of March 2025. Our deposits have grown faster than the system. and so has this grown faster than our loans as well. Next year, in line with what we had committed, the adjustment in CD ratio will not be so steep, supporting the loan growth for the bank, but it will be on a downward path. Cost remains under a tight leash, and we expect this to continue. Asset quality, one of our USPs, remains pristine. As liquidity and growth improve, we are well placed to grow in both assets and deposits. We have been doing a lot of work on technology over the last few years, and we should start reaping the benefits of the same gradually during the course of the year. This is a space to watch out for, and we shall unveil at the appropriate time. I would like to express my gratitude to all our employees for their hard work and performance, and to our shareholders and all of you who are on this call for being very patient with us during this period of adjustment. Thank you so much. Shani, over to you.