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Private sector lender ICICI Bank on April 23 reported a 59.4 percent year-on-year jump in net profit to Rs 7,018.7 crore for the quarter ended March, which was above analysts’ estimate of Rs. 6,450 crore.
The lender reported a 20.8 percent on-year growth in net interest income to Rs 12,605 crore for the reporting quarter, which was also above analysts’ expectations.
The bank’s board has also approved a dividend of Rs 5 per share for the shareholders.
Topline growth shines
That said, the bottomline of the lender was also aided by a sharp decline in provisions. Provision for the reported quarter slumped 63 percent on-year to Rs 1,069 crore. Provisions for Q4 included contingency provision of Rs 1,025 crore made on a prudent basis, ICICI Bank said.
The strong growth in net interest income of the lender was led by a 17 percent year-on-year growth in loan portfolio. Analysts had expected the private sector bank to report 15-18 percent growth in loans in the reported quarter.
The non-interest segment of the lender also showed firm growth as sales grew by 11 percent on-year to Rs 4,608 crore. Income from fee charged by the lender jumped 14 percent on-year to Rs 4,366 crore.
There was a treasury gain of Rs 129 crore in the March quarter as compared to a loss of Rs 25 crore in the year-ago quarter, the bank said.
Operating show resilient
ICICI Bank continued to outperform on the operating front as its pre-provision operating profit soared 19 percent on-year to Rs 10,164 crore, which was largely in-line with analysts’ estimate.
The lender’s net interest margin for the quarter came in at 4 percent as compared to 3.84 percent in the year-ago quarter and 3.96 percent in the previous quarter.
Strong Loan Growth
The lending business reported all around growth as retail, small businesses and wholesale business lending reported double-digit growth in the March quarter.
The lender’s retail loan portfolio grew by 20 percent on-year, and 6 percent sequentially, and now makes up for nearly 53 percent of the overall lending book. Small businesses registered a 34 percent growth in loans while wholesale loan book grew by 10 percent on-year.
Asset Quality Improves
The asset quality of the private lender continued to show improvement as net non-performing assets ratio came in at 0.76 percent for the March quarter as against 0.85 percent in the last quarter.
ICICI Bank saw a 25 percent year-on-year decline in net NPAs to Rs 6,961 crore. At the same time, gross additions to NPA ticked higher to Rs 4,204 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 4,018 crore in the previous quarter.
ICICI Bank said it continued to hold COVID-19 related provisions to the tune of Rs 6,425 crore as of March 31.
On April 22, shares of ICICI Bank ended 2 percent lower at Rs 747 on the National Stock Exchange.
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