Mumbai: Axis Bank Ltd on Tuesday reported a drop in net profit for the quarter ended 31 March, the first in 46 quarters, as it set aside more money against bad loans and made a contingency provision of Rs.300 crore.

Net profit fell 1.22% to Rs.2,154.28 crore in the fiscal fourth quarter from Rs.2,180.59 crore a year ago.

Axis Bank became the first bank to reduce its key lending rate after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced its repo rate by 25 basis points last week.

The country’s third largest private sector lender cut its marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR), the benchmark for pricing loans, by 15 basis points across all tenors. Axis Bank also reduced the base rate by 5 basis points to 9.45 per cent from 9.50 per cent effective April 18. Commercial banks moved to the new loan pricing regime from April 1.

Mumbai: Axis Bank Ltd, a lender to Jaypee Infratech Ltd, has taken possession of the debt-laden company’s headquarters in Noida, said three people familiar with the development. The bank has decided to take ownership of the asset in lieu of Rs.700 crore owed by the company, said one of the people cited above.

A second person confirmed that the decision to transfer the ownership of the building was taken as a way to reduce debt on the company’s balance sheet.

Private sector Axis Bank is using an online gamification competition to generate ideas for the smart cities for the government and also will implement the winning idea via the Axis Bank Foundation.

Based on the implementation of the ideas, the Bank will take a call on whether to continue with this theme or look at other emerging areas as well.

MUMBAI: Banks are taking the battle to mobile wallet companies, armed with their readymade payment systems, wide merchant network and an on tap customer base, attempting to reclaim a turf which just a couple of years ago was their fiefdom.

In the past year, large lenders like ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank, which together control around 40 per cent of local banking assets, have launched new payment instruments as they seek to prevent customers from moving money to newly emerging non-bank companies.

MUMBAI: Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector lender, has provided seed funding of Rs 10 lakh to the students of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, the winners of the inter-campus online gamified competition 'Axis Moves' it has launched in leading B-schools in a bid to bolster entrepreneurship across the country. The winning ideas will be executed by the Axis Bank Foundation and a partner non-governmental organisation.

Advocating selective stock-picking in the banking sector amid current uncertainty over rising non-performing loans, ICICIdirect.com has advised investors to stick to shares of strong banks including HDFC and IndusInd Bank. The brokerage house has said other banks shares that can be bought are State Bank of India, Axis Bank and City Union Bank.

On government-owned banks, a ICICIdirect.com report said “entering PSU banks at current levels would not be a prudent strategy despite them seeming to be available at cheap valuations.

Axis Bank is going the start-up way and giving employees flexible roles and a flexible work environment.

Rajesh K Dahiya, group executive of the country's third largest private sector lender, said from the next financial year, the bank was planning to revise the definition of employment in a bank.

Sanjiv Misra will continue as Non-Executive Chairman of Axis Bank for next three months, the lender said on Tuesday.

The term of Misra, a nominee of SUUTI, as the Non-Executive Chairman of the bank, expired on March 7, 2016, upon completion of tenure of three continuous years, the filing said.

Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector lender, has decided to step up hiring. After going slow on hiring for two years, the lender would increase its headcount in the next financial year by 10 per cent, said Rajesh K Dahiya, group executive (human resources), Axis Bank.

The bank had increased its headcount to 42,420 in March 2014 from 21,640 in the corresponding month in 2010. The number of employees, though, fell in 2014-15, despite the bank increasing the number of branches from 2,402 to 2,589. By March 2015, the headcount dropped to 42,230. However, the employee base rose to 47,876 by December 2015.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.