Axis Bank expects credit growth of 25% in FY11

Private sector lender Axis Bank today said that it expects to grow ahead of the banking sector with 25 per cent rise in credit this fiscal.

"We have traditionally grown ahead of the (banking) sector and we believe that we are likely to grow ahead of the sector. The sector is growing at 18 (per cent) we should be able to grow at 24-25 per cent," Axis Bank Managing Director Shikha Sharma said here.

There is an expectation that credit growth is likely to pick up in the next couple of quarters, she said after launching Axis Infra Index.

Total net advances of the bank grew 28 per cent on year-to-year basis to Rs 1,04,343 crore in 2009-10.

Asked about Net Interest Margin (NIM) for the current fiscal, she said, it should moderate a bit. It is likely to be about 3.5 per cent.

NIM of the bank stood at 3.71 per cent at the end of March 2010.

Talking about Axis Infra Index, Sharma said, the index is designed to convey a composite assessment of investor confidence in infrastructure segments in India.

It is intended to facilitate interpretation of capex, financial, policy, regulatory, tax and other associated developments, which influence investor confidence, she said.

Trends in the index signal the relative overall improvements in operating conditions and fundamentals of segments, she said.

Axis Bank recently increased its base rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent.