‘By P. Sarojini’
Mumbai, India (CWBN)_ Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector lender by market value, announced its net profit for the September quarter of the current fiscal year on Wednesday. The bank reported a net profit of INR 1,682.67 crore in the July-September period and it said that its asset quality has improved. The bank declared that they were able to make profit despite higher provisioning for contingencies. Last year, in the same period, the bank reported a net loss of INR 112.08 crore. The bank stated that its net interest income rose to 20 per cent to INR 7,326.07 crore.Â
Axis Bank said that in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, its net interest margin, which is a key measure of profitability, increased to 3.58 per cent, which was 3.51 per cent a year ago.
The asset quality of the Mumbai-based Axis Bank showed a slight improvement with gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances at 4.18 per cent at the end of September quarter as compared to 4.72 per cent in the previous quarter.Â
The total gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans decreased from INR 29,560 crore in June quarter to INR 26,831.64 crore in the September quarter.
The net NPAs as a percentage of total advances stood at 0.98 per cent as compared to 1.23 per cent in the June quarter.
The shares of Axis Bank ended 0.71 per cent lower at INRÂ 504.85 apiece on the BSE ahead of the earnings announcement as compared to a 1.48 per cent fall in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index amidst a broad-based selloff.Â