• Deposit growth outlook: Deposit growth slowed to 17% year-on-year following rate cuts across high buckets in January, but the bank expects to return to over 20% growth in the current year.
• Fraud provision recovery: The bank fully expensed the ₹645 crore provision related to the Haryana fraud in the quarter's P&L and is pursuing legal channels to recover a portion of the funds.
• Credit cost trajectory: Credit costs improved to 1.63% for the quarter and are guided to decrease from 2.1% last year to approximately 1.7%–1.8% this year, supported by flat unsecured MSME exposure.
• Operating leverage targets: IDFC First Bank plans to keep operating expense growth contained at 13%–14% while growing the loan book by 18%–20% without easing underwriting standards.
• Return on assets: Normalized quarterly profit reached around ₹745–750 crore (representing roughly a 0.7% return on assets), with management aiming to approach its 1% ROA target.