Leading private sector lender Axis Bank on Tuesday reported that its standalone net profit rose 4% year-on-year to Rs 6,071 crore in the October-December 2023 period. It was Rs 5,853 crore in the last-year period.
The profit was marginally higher than the ET Now Poll estimate of Rs 5,924 crore. Net interest income (NII) in the third quarter rose 9% to Rs 12,532 crore.
On a sequential basis, net profit increased 3.5%, while net interest income was up by a marginal 1.7% quarter-on-quarter. The year-on-year figures are not truly comparable due to Citi’s acquisition.
Pre-provision operating profit (PPOP) in the quarter under review rose 1.4% year-on-year to Rs 9,141 crore. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, PPOP increased 6%.
Provisions for the third quarter stood at Rs 1,028 crore, up 26% quarter-on-quarter.
Net interest margin (NIM) stood at 4.01% in the December quarter. Fee income grew 29% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 5,170 crore. Retail fees jumped 36% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter, and constituted 72% of the bank’s total fee income.
Retail cards and payments fee increased 10% quarter-on-quarter. The trading income gain for the quarter stood at Rs 291 crore and miscellaneous income was Rs 94 crore.
Overall, non-interest income (comprising of fee, trading and miscellaneous income) for Q3FY24 grew 22% year-on-year to Rs 5,555 crore.
The Bank’s balance sheet grew 14% year-on-year and stood at Rs 13.98 lakh crore, as of December 2023. The total deposits grew 18% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter on period end basis, of which savings account deposits grew 16% year-on-year.
The bank’s advances jumped 22% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 9.32 lakh crore as of December 2023.
On the asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 1.58%, down from 1.73% in the September quarter. Net NPAs in the third quarter were flat at 0.36%.
Gross slippages during the quarter were Rs 3,715 crore, compared to Rs 3,254 crore in Q2FY24. Recoveries and upgrades from NPAs during the quarter stood at Rs 2,598 crore.
The bank in the quarter wrote off NPAs aggregating Rs 1,981 crore. The provision coverage, as a proportion of gross NPAs, stood at 78% as of December 2023.
The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 16.63%, at the end of the December quarter with a CET 1 ratio of 13.71%.
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