Private sector lender ICICI Bank today reported a 13.24 per cent increase in its March quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 3,084.92 crore even as bad loans and provisions increased.
On a standalone basis, the net profit rose 10 per cent to Rs 2,922 crore on lower loan growth and the resulting net interest income.
According to a BSE filing, consolidated total income has increased from Rs 21,652.96 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 to Rs 24,914.26 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.
The bottom line would have been much lower but for a near threefold rise in forex gains at Rs 726 crore from Rs 245 crore in the year ago period.
The gross non-performing assets ratio zoomed to 3.78 per cent from 3.03 per cent a year-ago. Accordingly, the provisions for bad assets almost doubled to Rs 1,344.73 crore from Rs 713.78 crore a year ago.
ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochchar said the addition to the gross NPA stood at Rs 3,260 crore, of which Rs 2,246 crore came in from the restructured assets alone.
The core net interest income was up 17 per cent to Rs 5,079 crore, while non interest income was up by a similar quantum to Rs 3,496 crore during the quarter.
Defending the system of restructuring of assets, which got abolished on March 31, Kochchar said its restructuring pipeline stands at Rs 1,500 crore as some requests had come inside the deadline.
She said the asset quality woes are arising due to certain lumpy loans and the trouble is not on account of sectors like infrastructure, which have been under trouble.
Kochchar hinted that this is the peak of the asset quality woes, saying FY 2016 will be better than FY2015 in terms of both addition to NPAs as well as provisioning.
Certain assumptions on the economic growth made at the time of restructuring have not played out due to the gradual turnaround in the economy, which is resulting in some assets slipping into NPAs, she reasoned.
