Axis Bank profit jumps 86% to Rs 3,133 crore in September quarter

Strong fee income, fall in provisions boost bottom line

Private lender Axis Bank logged 86 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 3,133 crore in the second quarter ended Septe­mber 2021, predominantly on robust growth in fee income and sharp fall in provisions. It had posted a net profit of Rs 1,683 crore in Q2 of FY21.

Net interest income (NII) grew by 8 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to Rs 7,900 crore in Q2 of FY22 as against Rs 7,326 crore in Q2 of FY21. Net interest margin (NIM) declined to 3.39 per cent in Q2 of FY22 from 3.58 per cent a year ago.

Growth is coming back in the economy and this should be structurally positive, going forward, bank officials said in media interaction for Q2 of FY22. Fee income was up 17 per cent (on YoY basis) to Rs 3,231 crore in Q2 of FY22 from Rs 2,752 crore a year ago. Its stock closed 0.33 per cent lower at Rs 842.25 per share on the BSE. 

The bank’s global deposits rose by 18 per cent on a YoY basis to Rs 7,13,400 crore in Q2 of FY22. The share of low-cost deposits, current account and savings account (CASA), in total deposits increased to 42 per cent in September 2021 from 41 per cent a year ago.

Gross advances grew by 10 per cent to Rs 6,21,700 crore in Q2 of FY22. Retail loans grew 16 per cent YoY. Now, 80 per cent of the retail book is secured. Small and medium enterprise (SME) loans grew by 18 per cent and the mid-corporate loan book surged 32 per cent.

Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive, said that the bank continues to focus on SMEs and mid-corporate segments. And, also on the retail side, where it sees better disbursements and growth driven by secured products. 

Asset quality profile im­pr­oved with gross non-perfor­ming assets (gross NPAs) di­p­­ping to 3.53 per cent in September 2021 from 4.18 per cent in September 2020. Net NPAs rose marginally to 1.08 per cent in September 2021 fr­om 0.98 per cent a year ago. Its provision coverage ratio sto­od at 88 per cent at the end of Q2 of FY22 against 88 per cent at the end of Q2 of FY21.