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Journalism of Courage
Axis Bank today reported a 22 per cent jump in post-tax profit for the March quarter at Rs 1,555 crore helped by growth in both core and non-interest income.
The country8217;s third largest private sector lender had posted a post-tax net of Rs 1,277 crore the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.
Net interest income grew 24.16 per cent to Rs 2,664 crore while the other income was up 26.43 per cent to 2,007 crore,aided by a 62.83 per cent growth in trading income which came in at Rs 237.76 crore,it said.
Axis Bank8217;s asset book grew broadly at par with the industry average at 16 per cent,on the back of a 44 per cent growth in retail component. Credit to corporates grew 8 per cent while agriculture book witnessed a de-growth of 14.39 per cent to Rs 14,845 crore from the year ago8217;s Rs 17,340 crore.
8220;We were under served in the retail segment which we are growing now. Retail assets have grown to 27 per cent from
the earlier 22 per cent and I see them touching 30 per cent by
end of FY14,8221; Axis Bank Executive Director Somnath Sengupta
told reporters on a conference call.
The share of low-cost current and saving account deposits CASA improved to 44 per cent as on March 31,2013 as against 42 per cent a year ago.
Net interest margin widened to 3.70 per cent,but Sengupta said it would go down to 3.25 to 3.50 per cent levels. It came in higher in the March quarter due to the recent capital raising done by the bank,he added.
The lender witnessed a three-fold spike in provisions at Rs 595.35 crore from the year ago8217;s Rs 139.28 crore because of additional Rs 240 crore being put into a special ontingency fund during the quarter,Sengupta said.
Sengupta said he does not see any trouble on credit quality front for FY14 and added that gross non-performing assets ratio will broadly be in line with the 1.06 per cent observed in the quarter under review.
The bank added Rs 791 crore in restructured assets to take the total amount to Rs 4,637 crore,he said.
The bank gained from one-off help on the operating expenses front,which grew only 10 per cent on a high base to Rs 1,872.13 crore,as against 25 per cent surge in operating revenue of Rs 4,671.83 crore during the quarter,Sengupta said.
