ICICI Surges as CEO Says for Third Year That Bad Debt Is Peaking

ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s second-largest private sector lender by assets, was Asia’s best-performing bank stock on Tuesday after its top official said bad-loan ratios will improve. ICICI jumped 6.7 percent in Mumbai, the biggest gain since Oct. 25, and was the top stock on Bloomberg’s Asia Pacific Banks Index. Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar, who has been assuring investors since 2015 that the bank has gained control over its bad-loan problem, guided that the net ratio will narrow to about a quarter of the current level over the next two years.