HDFC Bank third quarter net jumps 31%

HDFC Bank has registered a 31.1 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 170.93 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2004. The bank had clocked a net of Rs 130.36 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The total income during the same period increased to Rs 979.55 crore, up 25.18 per cent against Rs 782.48 crore registered last year.

The bank's net profit in the first nine months of the current fiscal year increased by 30.6 per cent to Rs 463.19 crore, compared with Rs 354.78 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2004, the bank's total income Rs 2,658 crore, compared with Rs 2,223 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Net interest income (i.e. interest earned over the interest expended) for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, increased by Rs.82.6 crore to Rs.440.0 crore, driven by an average asset growth of 28.6 per cent and a core net interest margin of 3.7 per cent.

The bank's other income during the period increased to Rs 200.52 crore, compared with Rs 121.09 crore.

In the quarter ended December 31, the bank's capital adequacy ratio dipped to 9.4 per cent, compared with 10.7 per cent in the previous quarter. The bank is planning to raise $300 million through an ADS issue which will enable it boost the capital adequacy above the 11 per cent mark.

HDFC's non performing assets (NPA) stood at 0.2 per cent of the customer assets and 0.3 per cent of the advances.

General loan loss provisions were about 0.7 per cent of the standard advances, compared with the regulatory requirement of 0.25 per cent.