Mumbai, Oct 31: ICICI Bank, the country’s second largest commercial bank, reported on Friday a 41 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, beating expectations, on strong growth in its retail lending and bond trading gains. The privately managed bank, one of only two Indian banks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reported a profit of Rs 401 crore ($88.5 million).

That compared with a net profit of Rs 285 crore a year earlier and Rs 340 crore in the first quarter. Other Indian banks have already posted strong growth in quarterly earnings as trading gains rose on a sharp drop in bond yields while three-decade low interest rates stoked a boom in demand for loans to buy houses, cars and consumer appliances from the middle class of an estimated 300 million people. Bureau Report