Muted growth, higher slippages & credit costs weigh on Axis Bank
Axis Bank on Thursday reported a tepid rise in its December quarter profits on the back of weak business growth, increased slippages and higher credit costs. The bank's profit rose 4% on year to ₹6,304 crore, largely in line with expectations.
An analyst poll by Bloomberg had estimated profit after tax at ₹6,297 crore. Net profit was ₹6,071 crore in the same quarter last year.
«We continue to calibrate risk internally across portfolios and monitor the changing credit environment,» Amitabh Chaudhry, MD, Axis Bank, told reporters during the post-earnings media call.
«On retail asset quality, a normalisation cycle is in progress. Our recognition and provisioning policy are the most conservative amongst Indian banks, and we expect this to stabilise over the next few quarters. Macro-economic factors have impacted the period-end deposit growth in the last one year. However, quarterly average balance growth remains higher than the industry.»
Net interest income (NII), or the core income of the bank, climbed 9% on year to ₹13,606 crore at the end of December 2024, versus ₹13,483 crore in the same period last year. Net interest margin fell to 3.93% during the quarter versus 4.01% seen in the year ago period.
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