HDFC Bank eyes revival after peers outperform

HDFC Bank's chairman, Sashidhar Jagdishan, will conclude his six-year tenure as MD and CEO after declining to seek a further extension. During his leadership, the bank has shown resilience in operations, enhanced its asset quality, and maintained a steady return on assets, yet this performance has not driven stock prices higher amid rising concerns about future growth and fierce competition.

Jagdishan's successor will face significant challenges as peers, such as State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank, have improved their asset quality and return ratios over the past five years. These enhancements have contributed to generating investor wealth and outperforming HDFC Bank on the stock market. The new CEO will need to swiftly identify a successor and implement effective leadership strategies to regain the premium that HDFC Bank once commanded on the bourses.

Since October 27, 2020, HDFC Bank's gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio has decreased to 1.15% of gross advances from 1.32% in FY21. The return on assets (ROA) has remained relatively stable around 1.96% during this period. Similarly, competitors have shown improvement in asset quality and return ratios. For instance, ICICI Bank's ROA has increased by 90 basis points to 2.32% in FY26 from FY21, while SBI's ROA has risen by 64 bps to 1.12%.

Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have also experienced gains in ROA, expanding by 76 bps to 1.46% and 12 bps to 1.97%, respectively, over the same period.