Private sector lender HDFC Bank today reported a 20.6 per cent rise in net profit for the March quarter at Rs 2,807 crore today, aided by a healthy growth in core interest income.
For the full fiscal ending March 2015, the bank for the first time crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark in profit, at Rs 10,216 crore, up 20.5 percent from FY 2014.
The bank had consistently delivered 30 per cent quarterly growth in net profit till last year.
Its profit was Rs 2,326.52 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The core income of the bank, which is the most valuable lender in the world on a book value basis, rose 21.4 per cent to Rs 6,013.2 crore on a advances growth of 21.2 per cent.
Net interest margin (NIM) stood stable at 4.4 per cent, the highest in the industry.
HDFC Bank's Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar hinted that it will be able to manage the elevated NIM in spite of the base rate cut of 0.15 per cent, giving past experience of protecting the margins in the 4.1 to 4.5 per cent range despite rate cuts.
The non-interest income was up 30 per cent to Rs 2,563.8 crore, and the growth was largely on the back of a jump in the core fees and commissions part.
The city-based lender added over 300 branches during the quarter, which resulted in a decrease in the cost to income ratio to 44.9 per cent from the preceding quarter's 42 per cent, Sukthankar said, exuding confidence that the highs of 48-49 per cent observed last year are behind the bank.
Total branch opening for FY2015 stood at 611, he said, adding it hired 10,000 employees in the fiscal. He added that the new branch opening will slow down to 300 in FY 2016 as much of it has been done in FY 2015 itself.
