ICICI Bank, the country’s second largest bank, today said that its consolidated net profit rose 17.66 per cent to Rs 748.44 crore during the quarter-ended March 2009 as its expenses fell more than the decrease in income.
On a standalone basis, the private sector lender’s net profit dropped over 35 per cent to Rs 743.76 crore during January-March 2009, as against Rs Rs 1,149.84 crore during the corresponding period in 2007-08. The fall was on account of an 11 per cent decrease in income and a 14.46 per cent rise in non-tax provisions which were mainly related to bad debt.
While net interest income went up 2.9 per cent to Rs 2,139 crore at the end of the fourth quarter, other income declined by over 29 per cent due to lower corporate fee income and reduced third-party distribution and low disbursals, which impacted retail fee income. Treasury income was, however, 30 per cent higher at Rs 214 crore.
While the economic downturn has affected loan disbursals of most banks, ICICI Bank saw a 3.24 per cnet drop in the size of its loan book to Rs 2,18,310.85 crore at the end of March 2009, as against Rs 2,25,616.08 crore at the end of the previous financial year.
Its asset base shrank 5.13 per cent to Rs 3,79,300.96 crore at the end of March 2009 from Rs 3,99,795.08 at the end of March 2008.
The bank’s deposit base contracted 10.67 per cent to Rs 2,18,347.82 crore at the end of March 2009 from Rs 2,44,431.05 crore in March 2008. This was a result of the bank’s reluctance to raise high-cost bulk deposits. It, however, managed to increase the share of current account and savings bank account (Casa) balances in the total deposit base. At the end of March 2009, the Casa ratio improved 226 basis points to 28.7 per cent, from 26.1 per cent in the previous year. During the fourth quarter, the bank’s Casa ratio improved by 130 basis points.
In an investor presentation, ICICI Bank said raising the Casa ratio and rebalancing its funding mix will be a thrust area for which it intends to leverage its network of branches. Besides, lending would be selective — it intends to go for selective lending and “proactive management of the existing portfolio”.