Axis Bank is evaluating options to increase its stake in Axis Max Life up to 30%, a move aimed at facilitating the eventual listing of the insurer, according to Managing Director and CEO Amitabh Chaudhry in an interview with NDTV Profit. Currently holding a 20% stake in the life insurance venture, the private lender is exploring restructuring that could involve merging the holding company with the operating life insurance entity. As reported by NDTV Profit, any such expansion remains subject to regulatory clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
According to Chaudhry's comments, the bank needs RBI permission to increase its stake beyond the current 20% level. "We have indicated that at some stage we would like to merge the holding company and Axis Max Life. Even the regulator is pushing us to get the listing of the insurance company done, and this is a very neat way of achieving it," Chaudhry stated. He noted that "for that, you do need a promoter with at least a 26% stake" and emphasized that "before we do anything, we will need the permission of our regulator to increase our stake."
Addressing market curiosity surrounding foreign currency non-resident (FCNRB) deposits, Chaudhry confirmed that Axis Bank ranks among the top institutions in funds mobilized through the facility. While declining to disclose specific figures ahead of official earnings disclosures, he confirmed the bank's share of these inflows sits well above its domestic deposit market share of roughly 5%. On the impact of these sizable inflows on profitability, Chaudhry projected that short-term dilution may cause Net Interest Margins (NIMs) to wobble over the next one to two quarters, but medium-term accretion will be net-additive to margins as the low-cost liquidity is utilized to replace more expensive deposits. Chaudhry reiterated that "the bank's NIMs have already bottomed out following prior contractions" excluding the temporary optics of deploying FCNRB funds.
On the banking sector's shift toward the expected credit loss (ECL) provisioning regime, Chaudhry expressed confidence in the lender's balance sheet resilience. According to NDTV Profit, Axis Bank has maintained substantial countercyclical buffers-including provisions set aside following tax write-backs and unutilized COVID-era reserves. He projected that the transition's capital hit to net worth would remain limited for Axis Bank. The bank has also expanded its branch network in Uttar Pradesh by 68% over the past three years, supporting the state's drive toward a trillion-dollar economy across industrial corridors, tourism, and micro-enterprises.
