The third largest private lender Axis Bank today reported an 18 per cent growth in its profit after tax to Rs 1,842 crore on the back of a rise in interest and fee incomes.
"The earning was driven by a strong growth in net interest income. It was also supported by non-interest income, mainly fee and trading profit," Axis Bank Executive Director Somnath Sengupta told reporters during a conference call.
The bank's net interest income (NII) during the quarter rose 19 per cent to Rs 3,166 crore.
For the full fiscal, NII rose 24 per cent to Rs 11,952 crore.
For the full year, net profit rose 20 per cent to Rs 6,218 crore.
The bank recorded a net interest margin of 3.89 per cent in the quarter against 3.70 per cent in the same period last year.
"This improvement in NIM was mainly due to growth of the low cost Casa deposits and also as the share of retail deposit in our total deposits have also grown quiet strongly in the quarter," Sengupta said.
On a daily average basis, Casa deposits during the quarter grew 16 per cent constituting 39 per cent of total deposits.
The bank's scrip closed at 1,534.45 apiece, up 1.10 per cent, on the BSE.
Angel Broking's Vaibhav Agrawal said, "NII expectedly grew at a healthy pace of 18.8 per cent y-o-y, aided by loan book growth of 16.8 per cent y-o-y. Non-interest income performance was moderate with a 10.3 per cent growth."
"Though the near-term outlook for the bank remains challenging, given the current macro environment, from a structural point-of-view compared to peers, keeping in mind its robust franchise and capital adequacy, it remains one of the preferred banks," he said.
