Axis Bank Ltd. posted a higher-than-expected profit in the quarter ended March and its asset quality improved.
The private lender’s net profit stood at Rs 2,677 crore in the January-March period compared with a net loss of Rs 1,388 crore a year ago, according to an exchange filing. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had pegged the bottom line at Rs 1,912 crore.
That came as its net interest income rose 11% year-on-year to Rs 7,555 crore, against the Rs 7,011-crore forecast. Fee income, too, increased 15% over the year earlier to Rs 3,376 crore in the fourth quarter.
Asset Quality & Provisions
Axis Bank’s asset quality improved during the reported quarter.
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Gross non-performing asset ratio stood at 3.7% compared with 4.55% as on Dec. 31.
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Net NPA ratio, too, improved to 1.05%, down 14 basis points sequentially.
The bank said it restructured loans worth Rs 844.6 crore under the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time restructuring scheme. This included retail loans worth Rs 504 crore and corporate loans worth Rs 340.89 crore. The scheme was introduced to aid borrowers impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the January-March period, Axis Bank saw fresh slippages worth Rs 5,285 crore and recoveries and upgradations worth Rs 3,462 crore, according to disclosures made in the analyst presentation. The bank also wrote off Rs 5,553 crore worth loans during the quarter.
Specific loan loss provisions for the fourth quarter were at Rs 7,038 crore, which included reclassification of NPA provision of Rs 4,266 crore on account of the Supreme Court lifting its bar on downgrading accounts to NPA status. That compares with Rs 4,204 crore worth of loan loss provisions in the same quarter last year.
The bank’s provision coverage ratio, including write-offs, stood at 88%.
Axis Bank held cumulative provisions of Rs 12,010 crore as on March 31, it said, which includes standard asset provisions as well as additional stressed asset provisions, other than NPAs.