HDFC Bank, India's second-largest private sector lender, saw its headcount fall by 4,581 between the second (September 2016 or Q2) and third quarters (December 2016 or Q3) this fiscal. The Mumbai-based bank attributed the decrease to a trinity of factors, including rising automation, lower pace of hiring and attrition in the normal course.
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The bank had 90,421 employees as of December 31, 2016, down from 95,002 it had at the end of September 2016.
The bank had reported 15 per cent rise in Q3 net profit at Rs 3,865.3 crore in comparison to Rs 3,356.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, while net interest income rose 17.6 per cent to Rs 8,309 crore from Rs 7,065 crore in the year-ago period, according to a statement released by HDFC Bank on Tuesday (January 24). The net interest margin fell 20 basis points YoY to 4.1 per cent.
The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs stood at 1.05 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively, as of December 31, 2016. Deposits, aided by demonetisation, grew 21.1 per cent to Rs 634,705 crore. The spurt was significant in current account, savings account (CASA), with both rising by about 37 per cent individually. CASA deposits accounted for about 45 per cent (Rs 287,873 crore) of total deposits at the end of Q2, according to the bank.
The bank's domestic loan portfolio grew 17.5 per cent YoY to Rs 477,415 crore, with retail loans accounting for about 55 per cent, according to Basel 2 classification.
HDFC Bank shares closed 1.58 per cent higher at Rs 1,287 on the BSE on Wednesday (Jan 25). The BSE Sensex closed 333 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 27,708.
ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector lender, will be declaring its Q3 results on January 31, 2017. The share price of the bank closed at Rs 259 on Wednesday, up 1.03 per cent from its previous close.
Axis Bank declared its December quarter results on January 19. The overall numbers were weak, with net profit falling sharply on a year-on-year basis. The third-largest private sector lender reported a fall of 73 per cent in net profit to Rs 579.60 crore in the December 2016 quarter (Q3) as against Rs 2,175.3 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.
