Axis Bank Q1 net profit jumps 95% to Rs 1,370 crore; stock falls over 1%

Private lender Axis Bank reported 95 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for the first quarter (Q1), aided by good performance in its key operating parameters although slippages and provisioning remained on the higher side. The net profit for the quarter was at Rs 1,370 crore, compared to Rs 701 crore in the year-ago quarter. 

However, analysts were expecting the bank to post profit of Rs 1,855 crore. Bank’s net interest income rose 13 per cent to Rs 5,844 crore in Q1FY20, compared to Rs 5,167 crore in the same period of FY19. Non-interest income of the lender saw a 32 per cent rise at Rs 3,869 crore in Q1, compared to Rs 2,925 crore in the same period in FY19. 

Net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.40 per cent for the quarter, against 3.46 per cent in the year-ago period. 

The last year’s NIM benefited 17 basis points from a one-off recovery related to resolution in an insolvency account. There was no such case in the present quarter, the management said in a post-results conference.  

Axis Bank scrip closed at Rs 706.55 on BSE, down 1.82 per cent from previous close.

Asset quality remained stable in the bank, with gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio staying at 5.25 per cent in the quarter, against 5.26 per cent in the March quarter.