Country's third-biggest private sector lender Axis Bank Ltd on Wednesday reported a fall of 43.1 per cent in its net profit after tax at Rs 1,225.10 crore for the Jan-Mar quarter ended March 31, 2017, on the back of higher provisions, but beats analysts estimates led by higher-than-expected NII, other income and strong recoveries.
The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 2,154.28 crore in corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, Axis Bank Ltd said in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange on April 26, 2017.
Total income of the bank, however, rose by 4.3 per cent to Rs 14,181.31 crore in Q4 FY17 from Rs 13,592.97 crore during Q4 FY16.
Net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits, rose 3.9 per cent at Rs 4,728.6 crore versus Rs 4,552.59 crore in the year ago period. Non-interest income jumped 11.8 per cent to Rs 3,013.16 crore from Rs 2,694.01 crore in the same period a year ago.
Asset quality for the bank worsened, during the quarter under review, as it’s gross non-performing assets increased to 5.04 per cent of total loans, compared with 1.67 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Net NPA of the bank, too, rose to 2.11 per cent against 0.70 per cent in corresponding period last year.
However, in the quarter, provisions (other than tax) and contingencies fell sharply to Rs 2,581.25 crore from Rs 3,795.80 crore in previous quarter and jumped from Rs 1,168.33 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.
The Board of Directors of the bank has recommended a dividend of Rs 5 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 per equity share for the year ended March 31, 2017, subject to shareholders’ approval at the next AGM.
Meanwhile, shares of bank closed at Rs 517.30 apiece, up 0.42 per cent, from previous close on BSE.