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On Saturday, HDFC Bank Ltd announced that its net profit for the quarter ending in March had increased by almost 20% year-on-year (YoY) to reach Rs 12,047 crore. Additionally, the bank's total income grew by 31% YoY to Rs 53,851 crore. The board of directors has also approved a final dividend of Rs 19 per share.
Brokerages estimated that the lender's net profit would increase by 21% to Rs 12,180 crore, based on the average of their estimates. The net interest income, which represents the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 24% YoY to reach Rs 23,352 crore for the quarter ending in March. The core net interest margin was 4.1% on total assets and 4.3% based on interest-earning assets.
The bank's bottom line for the quarter was also supported by other income, which increased by 27% YoY to reach Rs 8,731 crore. The pre-provision operating profit (PPoP) grew by 14.4% YoY to reach Rs 18,621 crore.
Provisions and contingencies for the quarter amounted to Rs 2,685.4 crore, down from Rs 3,312.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The total credit cost ratio decreased to 0.67%, compared to 0.96% in the previous year.
The bank's asset quality remained largely stable, with a gross non-performing assets ratio of 1.12% as of March end, down from 1.23% a quarter ago and 1.17% a year ago.
The net non-performing assets ratio was 0.27% as of March end, down from 0.33% a quarter ago and 0.32% a year ago. The capital adequacy ratio also showed significant improvement, reaching 19.26% as of March 31, up from 18.90% a year ago and 17.66% a quarter ago.