Seeking a slice of world’s most expensive bank
Not only does the stock trade at the highest valuation among the world’s largest banks, but international funds are so bullish that they’re willing to pay a record 20% premium over HDFC’s local stock price to get their hands on the limited number of shares available to foreigners. Brokerage analysts, meanwhile, have more buy ratings on the company than at any other time in 14 years.
While sceptics say the stock has become too expensive, IDBI Capital Market Services, the most accurate forecaster of HDFC shares in the past year, predicts valuations have even further to climb. The bank has reported annual profit growth of at least 20% every year since 1998, a feat unmatched by any of the world’s 200 biggest lenders, and analysts say the firm will maintain that pace through at least March 2017.
