Axis Bank profit fall less than forecast as bad loans slow

REUTERS - Axis Bank, India's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a smaller-than-expected 16 percent fall in first-quarter net profit as its bad loan additions slowed.

Net profit fell to 13.06 billion rupees ($203 million) for the three months ended June 30, but was ahead of the 12.82 billion rupees on average estimated by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans were 5.03 percent at end-June, compared with 5.04 percent at March-end.

Outstanding loans on the bank's watch list, or potential troubled loans, fell 16 percent from the previous quarter to 79.41 billion rupees as of end-June, Axis Bank said on Tuesday.

Net interest income for the quarter grew 2 percent from a year earlier, while fee income grew 16 percent year-on-year. Net interest margin for the June quarter was 3.63 percent, the Mumbai-based lender said.

Ahead of the results, shares of the bank closed 1.9 percent higher in a Mumbai market that was little changed.

($1 = 64.3725 rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; editing by Vyas Mohan and Alexander Smith)