Axis Bank, India's third-largest private sector lender, reported a 43 percent fall in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2017 (Q4), though the net interest income (NII) rose 4 percent. The bank's Q4 net profit came in Rs 1,225 crore, down from Rs 2,154 crore in the corresponding period last year due to a spike in provisioning for bad loans.
The lender provided Rs 2,581 crore for bad loans, marking a sharp rise from Rs 1,168 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16, according to regulatory statements by the bank on Wednesday, April 26.
NII, the difference between interest earned and interest paid, increased four percent in Q4 to Rs 4,728 crore from Rs 4,552 crore on a year-on-year basis. The net interest margin was 3.83 percent.
Gross slippages for the quarter stood at Rs 4,811 crore and at a net level, it stood at Rs 2,008 crore.
The bank declared a dividend of Rs 5 per equity share, same as last year.
The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs stood at 5.04 percent and 2.11 percent, respectively, as of March 31, 2017, up from 1.67 percent and 0.70 percent, respectively at the end of March 2016.
For 2016-17, net profit fell 55.2 percent to Rs 3,679 crore from Rs 8,224 crore in 2015-16.
In absolute terms, gross NPAs stood at Rs 21,280 crore and net NPAs at Rs 8,626 crore as of March 31, 2017.
The bank added added 400 branches during FY2017, taking the tally to 3,304 domestic branches and extension counters.
The results were declared after stock markets closed for the day. Axis Bank ended 0.42 percent higher at Rs 517.3 apiece on the BSE.
