Axis Bank Q2 profit rises 19% to Rs1,915 crore

Mumbai: Axis Bank Ltd, India’s third largest private sector bank by assets, on Tuesday said its net profit for the September quarter rose 19% from a year ago due to higher net interest income and lower provisions.

Net profit for the quarter was at Rs.1,915.64 crore as compared to Rs.1,610.71 crore a year ago. A Bloomberg poll of 31 analysts had forecast a net profit of Rs.1,944.10 crore for the quarter.

Net interest income (NII), or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, increased 15.24% to Rs.4,062.09 crore from Rs.3,524.85 crore last year.

Other income increased to Rs.2,041.40 crore from Rs.1,947.61 crore in the same period last year, a rise of 4.82%.

Provisions and contingencies for the quarter fell 2.46% from a year ago to Rs.707.17 crore. Provisions were also lower than the June quarter when the bank set aside Rs.1,121.7 crore in provisions to build a counter-cyclical buffer.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) for the quarter stood at 1.38% as compared to 1.34% in the corresponding quarter of last year. Net NPAs were at 0.48% versus 0.44% last year.

At 2.04pm, Axis Bank was trading at Rs.519.25 on the BSE, down 0.4% from its previous close, while India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 0.44% to 2,7240.45 points.

Axis Bank