Axis Bank reports 95% YoY rise in PAT at Rs 1,370 cr; provisions rise QoQ

Axis Bank on Tuesday, reported a net profit of Rs 1,370 crore, up 95.4 per cent YoY, from a PAT of Rs 701.1 crore in the same quarter last year. The numbers were still below most analysts' expectations.

Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, for instance, had pegged the bank’s profit at Rs 1,860.3 crore, up 165 per cent YoY. This would have been a nearly 24 per cent rise from the sequential profit of Rs 1,505.1 crore reported in the March quarter of previous fiscal (Q4FY19).

The private lender clocked net interest income (NII) of Rs 5,843.65 crore, up 13 per cent YoY, from Rs 5,167 crore earned in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. It was Rs 5,705.6 crore in the quarter ended March, 2019.

The Bank's asset quality remained flat sequentially. The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) came in at Rs 29,405 crore, down 1.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, from Rs 29,789.4 crore in the March quarter of 2019. The GNPA , however, fell 10 per cent YoY from Rs 32,662 crore in Q1FY19.  Thus, the GNPA ratio was 5.25 per cent in the recently concluded quarter, down from 6.52 per cent in Q1FY19 but flat from 5.26 per cent in Q4FY19.

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This was in-line with the analysts' expectations. Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher had expected Axis Bank’s gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio to reduce by 126 basis points YoY, but come flat sequentially at 5.26 per cent. It was 6.52 per cent in Q1FY19 and 5.26 per cent in Q4FY19.

The private lender's net NPA, however, showed improvement. It came in at Rs 11,037 crore in the recently concluded quarter, down 2.1 per cent sequentially and 26 per cent YoY. It was Rs 11,275.60 crore in Q4FY19 and Rs 14,901.56 crore in Q1FY19. 
The NNPA ratio was 2.04 per cent for the period under review, down from 3.09 per cent in Q1FY19 and 2.06 per cent in Q4FY19.

Fresh slippages were at Rs 4,798 crore. The Bank's provisions increased to Rs 3,814.58 crore up from Rs 3,337.7 crore in the year ago period and Rs 2,711.43 crore in Q4FY19. BB & Below pool has reduced to 1.3 per cent of Gross Customer Assets.

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The bank’s stock has outperformed the benchmark indices over the past year at the bourses by rising 28.4 per cent during the period under review, as against a 1 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The S&P BSE Bankex rose 6.34 per cent during the same period. On Tuesday, the stock closed 1.82 per cent lower at Rs 706.55 per share.  

Total deposits grew 24 per cent with current account-savings account (CASA) and retail term deposits together up 24 per cent, the bank said in its statement. The retail advances grew 22 per cent YoY, the advances towards small and medium enterprises (SME) grew 8 per cent, while the corporate advances grew only 3 per cent YoY, financial data of the bank showed.

Analysts had expected the lender’s loan book is estimated at Rs 5.05-lakh crore, up 14.4 per cent, from Rs 4.41-lakh crore clocked in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal (Rs 4.94-lakh crore in Q4FY19).