Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank & Reliance Industries: What Vinit Bolinjkar says on 3 heavyweight stocks

Vinit Bolinjkar, Head of Research at Ventura Securities, on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with US President Donald Trump would be important as it would tell us how the trade relations are going ahead. "In the Budget 2025, we have already lowered the basic customs duty (BCD) on passenger vehicles and motorcycles as well, which was one of the key demands that the US was making. It is believed that we would escape the tariff war situation. Index-wise Nifty50 holding on successfully to 23,000 level is a positive sign for the domestic market," the market expert told Business Today.

In response to a query on Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Bolinjkar said it is one of his high-conviction picks in the private lending space. "We are very bullish on Kotak Bank. Despite the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) strictures, the bank has been able to grow its 9-month book at about 10 per cent. With Standard Chartered Bank's book purchase, building in aggressive growth for Q4 (FY25), it can easily end the year at about 16 per cent of AUM (asset under management) growth. Kotak will be one of the banks growing very aggressively at 18 per cent CAGR over the next three years. It has the best numbers in terms of net NPAs (non-performing assets), highest growth, highest NIMs (net interest margins) and even the highest RoAs (return-on-assets). You (investors) are getting a pedigree bank which has been suppressed for a very long time. It has been underperforming the markets and going ahead we believe that this bank will do really well. So, we have initiated a 'Buy' on this with the upside of around 40 per cent and Rs 2,670 is the target price."

The market veteran added that in a good market, the stock could easily hit Rs 3,000-plus levels and possibly even double over the next 24 to 30 months. The Reserve Bank has lifted the restrictions on Kotak Bank regarding onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing new credit cards.

When asked about ICICI Bank Ltd, "You may see one more value unlocking play within ICICI Bank. We are going to see some very decent moves and this stock may head higher towards Rs 2,100-2,200 levels in the near term."

For the unversed, British insurer Prudential is evaluating a potential listing of ICICI Prudential Asset Management. ICICI Bank, in a BSE filing, said, "We take note of the announcement made today by our joint venture partner Prudential PLC with respect to a potential listing of and partial divestment of its stake in ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, subject to market conditions, requisite approvals and other considerations (enclosed is the copy of the announcement)."

We intend to retain our majority shareholding in ICICI Prudential AMC, ensuring our long-term commitment, ICICI added.

The market specialist also shared views on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). "Reliance, every year the group has announced some kind of aggressive capex announcements during its AGM. There were none this time and so I believe that there are a lot of internal parts which are undergoing development but we haven't really seen them come out. The stock will only keep on underperforming and we tend to remain neutral on this as of now," Bolinjkar stated.