Axis Bank posts Rs 2,677 crore profit in Jan-Mar

New Delhi: Axis Bank on Tuesday reported a standalone net profit of Rs 2,677 crore for the fourth quarter ending March as provisioning for bad loans eased.

The private sector lender had reported a loss of Rs 1,387.78 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

Total income during the latest quarter stood at Rs 20,213.46 crore against Rs 20,219.57 crore in the year-ago period, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Provisions for bad loans and contingencies in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal declined significantly to Rs 3,294,98 crore compared to Rs 7,730.02 crore same quarter in the previous financial year.

During the quarter, the Net Interest Income (NII) grew by 11 per cent to Rs 7,555 crore from Rs 6,808 crore. Net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter was 3.56 per cent as against 3.55 per cent for the same quarter a year ago.

On consolidated basis, the lender posted a net profit of Rs 2,960.40 crore during the quarter ended March 2021 against a loss of Rs 1,250.09 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income increased to Rs 21,028.45 crore in the latest quarter from Rs 20,786.23 crore in the same period a year ago.

Gross non performing assets (NPAs) fell to 3.70 per cent of the gross advances as on March 31, 2021, from 4.86 per cent in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs too came down to 1.05 per cent from 1.56 per cent.

During the quarter, the bank made additional provision aggregating Rs 803 crores on account of change in NPA provision rates on loans to Commercial Banking segment. Net of the adjustments, specific loan loss provision for fourth quarter would have been Rs 1,969 crore.

Meanwhile, the board authorized the bank to raise funds in Indian or foreign currency by issue of debt Instruments including but not limited long term bonds, non-convertible debentures, perpetual debt instruments, AT 1 Bonds, Infrastructure Bonds and Tier II Capital Bonds up to an amount of Rs 35,000 crore.

It further said, the shareholders' funds of the bank grew 20 per cent on annual basis and stood at Rs 1,01,603 crore as on March 31, 2021.

Under Basel III, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and CET1 ratio as on March 31, 2021 including FY'21 profits were 19.12 per cent and 15.40 per cent respectively.

Additionally, the bank held Rs 5,012 crores of COVID-19 provisions, not considered for CAR calculation providing cushion of 69 basis points over the reported CAR. The Book value per equity share increased from Rs 301 as of March 31, 2020 to Rs 332 as of March 31, 2021.

The board of the bank at its meeting held on Tuesday considered it prudent to not propose any dividend for the year ended March 31, 2021, in light of the situation developing around Covid-19 in the country and related uncertainty that it creates.

Axis Bank completed the stake acquisition in Max Life Insurance Company Limited (Max Life) earlier this month and now together with its subsidiaries, Axis Capital and Axis Securities, owns 12.99 per cent stake in the company and is a co-promoter of the company.

The bank has three nominee directors on the Board of Max Life. Axis Bank has shared a strong business relationship with Max Life for over a decade now distributing the long-term saving and protection products to nearly Rs 20 lakh customers, generating aggregated total premium of over Rs 40,000 crore through this partnership.

Both companies have invested extensively in product and need-based sales training, thereby leading to a consistent increase in productivity, it added.