HDFC Bank Q4 net up 31% at Rs 343.6 crore

HDFC Bank's net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 rose by 30.5 per cent to Rs 343.6 crore as against Rs 263.21 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

The bank's profit for the year ended March 31, 2007 stood at Rs 1,141.45 crore, up 31 per cent compared to Rs 870.78 crore for the same period. The bank at its board meeting held in Mumbai also declared a dividend of Rs 7 per share.

The bank's net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 improved to 4.5 per cent against 4 per cent in the previous quarter. 
 

GOOD SHOW
Rs crore	Quarter ended		% chg
	2006	2007
Interest earned	1378.50	1989.76	^44.34
Other income	304.15	394.43	^29.68
Total income	1682.65	2384.19	^41.69
Expenditure	1121.41	1555.98	^38.75
Operating profit	561.24	828.21	^47.57
Net profit	263.21	343.57	^30.53
CAR (%)	11.40	13.10

The bank's other income, which includes fees and commission, foreign exchange and derivatives revenue and loss on sale and revaluation of investment, was up by 29.7 per cent to Rs 394.4 crore.

"The profits are largely driven by healthy NIM and fee income growth. The sharp increase in NIM was due to reducing exposure to bulk deposits and also consciously moderating the loan growth. This spike in NIM is an abberation and is unlikely to be sustainable,'' said Paresh Sukthankar, head market and credit risk, HDFC Bank.

Retail portfolio, meanwhile, has continued to grow at an healthy pace of 33 per cent and the corporate book has grown by about 25 per cent.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio as on March 31 stood at 13.1 per cent and its net non-performing assets (NPA) is at 0.4 per cent. The HDFC Bank scrip at the Bombay Stock Exchange ended the day at Rs 1013.60, up 2.65 per cent from its previous close of Rs 987.40.