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Private sector lender Axis Bank reported a sharp rise in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 with robust loan growth.
Back in the black, Axis Bank’s net profit stood at ₹2,677.06 crore in the January to March 2021 quarter as against a net loss of ₹1,387.78 crore in the same period a year ago. On a sequential basis, its profits grew 140 per cent from ₹1,116.60 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2020.
For the full fiscal 2020-21, Axis Bank’s standalone net profit surged 305 per cent to ₹4,961.28 crore versus ₹1,627.22 crore in 2019-20.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, the private sector lender registered an 11 per cent growth in its net interest income to ₹7,555 crore from ₹6,808 crore a year ago. Net interest margin stood at 3.56 per cent in the fourth quarter last fiscal as against 3.55 per cent a year ago.
Other income grew 17.1 per cent to ₹4,668.3 crore in the quarter under review. For the fourth quarter of 2020-21, the bank’s provisions fell 57.4 per cent to ₹3,294.98 crore from ₹7,730.02 crore a year ago.
Cumulative provisions
“The bank holds cumulative provisions (standard + additional other than NPA) of ₹12,010 crore at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020-21. It is pertinent to note that this is over and above the NPA provisioning included in our PCR calculations,” Axis Bank said in a statement on Tuesday. Gross non performing assets stood at ₹25,314.84 crore as on March 31, 2021 or 3.7 per cent as against 4.86 per cent a year ago. Net NPAs amounted to 1.05 per cent as on March 31, 2021 versus 1.56 per cent a year ago.
Recoveries and upgrades from NPAs during the quarter were ₹3,462 crore while write-offs were ₹5,553 crore.
Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and CEO, Axis Bank said he expects the collections to be impacted in coming weeks due to the local lockdowns in various States, though they have been strong in the initial weeks of the fiscal year.
The bank further said that its board of directors have considered it prudent to not propose any dividend for the year ended March 31, 2021, in light of the situation developing around Covid-19 and the uncertainty it creates.
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