Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector lender, today reported a 60.89 per cent rise in net profit during the fourth quarter of the current financial year to Rs 581.45 crore, as against Rs 361.40 crore during the same period last year.
The performance was bolstered by a 41.9 per cent rise in fee income which touched Rs 664.40 crore in the quarter-ended March, 2009.
The rise in profit was despite an 81.51 per cent rise in gross non-performning assets to Rs 897.77 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 494.61 crore in the same period in 2007-08. As a result, provisions went up by 55.40 per cent to Rs 255.19 crore during the quarter.
However, net NPAs as a per cent of customer assets fell to 0.35 per cent at the end of March, as against 0.36 per cent in the corresponding period last year. During the period, as a proportion of customer assets, gross NPAs rose to 0.96 per cent from 0.72 per cent.
While the bank’s net interest income grew 24.65 per cent to Rs 1,032.60 crore during the fourth quarter, the net interest margin dropped to 3.37 per cent from 3.93 per cent during January-March last year.
The bank’s investments, which primarily consists of government securities, jumped 37 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 46,330.35 crore from Rs 33,705.10 crore a year earlier. The share of low-cost CASA deposits stood at 43 per cent at the end of March 2009, as compared with 46 per cent at the end of March 2008. Savings bank deposits registered a growth of 29 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 25,822 crore as on March 31, 2009 from Rs 19,982 crore at the end of March 2008.
Earning per share were estimated to have increased by 61 per cent to Rs 50.27. The bank announced a 100 per cent dividend on shares with a face value of Rs 10.
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Buoyed by strong fee-based and interest incomes, Axis Bank’s consolidated net profit rose 71.17 per cent to Rs 1,812.93 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2009, compared with Rs 1,059.14 crore during 2007-08.
The bank’s fee-based income rose 63.72 per cent during the year at Rs 2,447.35 crore, as compared to Rs 1,494.85 crore in the preceding financial year 2007-08.
Axis Bank, which is the first bank to announce its annual results this year, booked a 56.17 per cent rise in its total income at Rs 13,745.04 crore last financial year as against Rs 8,801 crore at the end of March 2008.
As the cost of funds remained high for a large part of the year, and the growth in current account and savings account (CASA) deposits remained relatively lower, the bank’s net interest margin (NIM) dipped to 3.33 per cent during the year as compared with 3.47 per cent during FY08.
However, the bank’s net interest income (NII) rose 42.58 per cent to Rs 3,686.21 crore for FY09 as against Rs 2,585.35 crore in the previous year on account of high interest rates during the earlier part of FY09.
The bank said that its cost of funds was ruling at 6.50 per cent for the financial year ended March 31, 2009, which was higher than 6.02 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.
While the stock of demand deposits grew 27 per cent to Rs 50,644 crore during the year, the bank’s net advances increased by 37 per cent to Rs 81,557 crore as compared with Rs 59,661 crore at the end of March 31, 2008.
Retail advances grew 18 per cent to Rs 16,052 crore during 2008-09 from that of Rs 13,592 crore at the end of March 2008.