Mumbai: Private sector lender HDFC Bank is expected to post a net profit of ₹8,436 crore in the three months to March, 22% higher than ₹6,928 crore in the same period last year, according to an average of estimates by 14 analysts polled by Bloomberg.
The bank will declare its Q4 FY21 results on Saturday.
Analysts at Emkay Research said while HDFC Bank’s growth trajectory has moderated slightly in Q4, the bank should be able to deliver 20% year-on-year profit growth.
“Healthy growth, net interest margins (NIMs) and contained provisions should lead to reasonable profitability. Underlying asset quality could be slightly weaker amid stress in commercial vehicle and agriculture (loan) portfolio due to agitation related disruption or waivers,” Emkay Research said in a note on 7 April.
HDFC Bank recently informed the stock exchanges that its deposit base rose to about ₹13.35 trillion as on 31 March, registering a growth of around 16.3% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis. The bank said its low-cost current account and savings account (Casa) deposits grew 27% y-o-y to ₹6.15 trillion in Q4.
ICICI Securities said on 8 April that HDFC Bank is expected to report a net interest income (NII) of ₹16,970 crore in the March quarter, up 12% y-o-y.
“The bank is pushing retail loan growth (up 5% sequentially and 7.5% y-o-y), which is clearly seen in lower interest rates and various offers in gold loan, vehicle loan and personal loans,” the ICICI Securities report said.
Analysts at Motilal Oswal believe HDFC Bank has shown robust traction in its corporate portfolio, which is compensating for the softness in retail lending.
“Loan growth over FY21 year-to-date has been largely led by the corporate segment (53% of total loans). The management continues to focus on lending to highly-rated corporates, which has enabled a sharp decline in risk weighted assets-to-total assets ratio to around 66% (as against 75% in FY19),” the report said.
A strong liability franchise would support margin, the Motilal Oswal report said, adding that the bank is well-placed to gain incremental market share on both the asset and liability fronts.
Shares of HDFC Bank closed at ₹1,428.45 on the BSE on Friday, down 0.12% from its previous close.
