HDFC Bank Ltd. - ADR

Operating resilience + franchise strength despite 4-month challenges - Management emphasized strong customer focus and “steadfast focus on customer needs” through a difficult period, with pride in employee execution. - Board leadership transition: Interim Chairman Keki Mistry during the period; new Chairman Rajiv Kumar appointed → management expects “stability” and reduced uncertainty.

Balance sheet growth: deposits improving vs historical Q1 patterns; advances gaining momentum - Deposits: “Relatively better” growth than typical historical Q1 trends, plus market-share gains on both incremental and stock basis. - Advances: Management said it is on the verge of “pressing the pedal” after strong performance over the last 3–4 quarters, with momentum continuing. - Savings/current mix: Noted as a focus area—CASA ratio has been pressured, but they attribute it to structural deposit composition shifts and acquisition guardrails (details below).

Margins: cost of funds is the main swing factor; any “bottoming out” is cautious - CFO/CEO framed margins around (1) cost of funds (largest opportunity) and (2) asset yield/mix. - Deposit cost headwinds: non-retail deposit costs still “elevated”; borrowing mix still present (stated ~11% borrowing mix, watched closely). - Policy tailwinds for funding: management pointed to FCNR-related and other policy windows as helping stabilize rates/flows (to moderate non-retail costs). - Expectation: margin movement is not instant quarter-to-quarter due to timing and mix effects; management is more confident on full-year basis than near-term. - Surprising/less optimistic investor takeaway: they did not give a clean “margins have bottomed now” certainty—assets and funding mix will take time.