Axis Bank Q1 beats street, net up 22% to Rs 1409 cr

Moneycontrol Bureau

India's thrid largest private sector lender Axis Bank reported a 22 percent rise in its first quarter (April-June) net profit to Rs 1409 crore, aided by higher net interest income (NII) or the difference interest earned and paid out, that rose more than 30 percent to Rs 2,865 crore during the quarter.

Other income rose 33 percent to Rs 1,781 crore adding to the profit margin. Earnings were on expected lines.

Analysts on an average had expected the bank to report net profit at Rs 1398 crore and net interest income at Rs 2,744 crore.

The bank expanded its loans nearly 16 percent to Rs 1.98 lakh crore. Following its earlier stated stance, Axis Bank is growing its retail credit at a faster pace. Retail loans grew 40 percent y-o-y to Rs 56,700 crore compared with a growth of 16 percent at Rs 1 lakh crore.

Interestingly, the bank contracted its agriculture loans, which de-grew over 13 percent to Rs 13,600 crore.

During the three-month period, the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio rose marginally to 1.10 percent in June quarter from 1.06 percent a year back. The net NPA ratio too increased from 0.31 to 0.35 percent. Provisions and contingencies nearly trebbled from Rs 595 crore to Rs 712 crore.

However, deposits grew at a slower pace of just 7 percent y-o-y to around Rs 2.38 lakh crore. The share of current and savings account (CASA) increased from 36 percent to 39 percent of total deposits. CASA is the cheap source of funds. During the quarter, CASA grew 17 percent y-o-y to Rs 1.01 lakh crore.

Axis Bank shares on Thursday rose 4 percent to close at Rs 1,238 crore on NSE.

saikat.das@network18online.com