HDFC Bank Q4 net rises 18% to Rs 3,990 cr

Still higher than estimates; provisioning for loan losses up, assets healthy

HDFC Bank, the country's second-largest in the private sector in terms of assets, reported an 18.3 per cent rise in both its fourth quarter as well as yearly net profit.

This was so even as provisioning increased, mainly on the asset classification leeway given in the third quarter by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and due to aggressive expansion of the loan book in the fourth quarter.

Profit for the financial year's fourth quarter ended March was Rs 3,990 crore; for all of 2016-17, it was 14,549.7 crore. This is the second quarter in a row that the bank