Axis Bank Q3 net profit up 5 pc to Rs 1,757 crore

Private sector lender Axis Bank said on Wednesday its net profit rose by 5 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of current fiscal year to Rs 1,757 crore on the back of higher net interest income.

Net interest income -- the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits -- increased by 15 per cent to Rs 6,453 crore from Rs 5,604 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Non-interest income (comprising of fee, trading profit and miscellaneous income) for Q3 FY20 stood at Rs 3,787 crore. For the first nine months of FY20, the non-interest income grew by 20 per cent to Rs 11,551 crore.

As on December 31, the bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPA levels were 5 per cent and 2.09 per cent respectively as against 5.03 per cent and 1.99 per cent respectively as on September 30.

The lender recognised slippages of Rs 6,214 crore during Q3 FY20 compared to Rs 4,983 crore in Q2 FY20 and Rs 3,746 crore in Q3 FY19. Slippages from the loan book were at Rs 5,124 crore and that from investment exposures stood at Rs 1,090 crore.

Corporate slippages stood at Rs 3,891 crore and 81 per cent of this came from previously disclosed BB and below rated clients (fund based loans, non-fund based loans and investment holdings).

The bank has additional provisions of Rs 2,558 crore towards various risk contingencies over and above the regular NPA provisioning and the 0.4 per cent standard assets provisioning requirement.

These are not counted towards provision coverage ratio calculations, the bank said in a statement.

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