Axis Bank Net Profit Falls 19% In Q1 On Higher Provisions

On Tuesday, Axis Bank reported an 18.82 percent decline in its net profit for the June-ended quarter at Rs 1,112.17 crore when compared to Rs 1,370.08 crore in the same period last year.

The private sector bank's net interest income (NII) rose 20 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,985 crore in the first quarter of 2020-21 but its operating profit fell by 1 percent to Rs 5,844 crore.

Provisions and contingencies were up by 15.78 percent to Rs 4,416.42 crore in the April-June period from last year, but when compared to the previous quarter, the figure has fallen by 42.87 percent.

Asset quality of the lender improved during the quarter. As a percentage of total assets, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) came in at 4.72 percent against 5.25 percent last year. Net NPAs were 1.23 percent when compared to 2.04 percent a year ago.

Axis bank made specific loan loss provisions of Rs 3,512 crore during the quarter when compared with Rs 2,886 crore in the same period last year and Rs 4,204 crore in the March-ended quarter.

"The bank held additional provisions of around Rs 5,983 crores towards various contingencies at the end of Q4FY20. It has made incremental provisions aggregating Rs 733 crore in Q1FY21 towards Covid-19," it said.

The bank has also recognised slippages of Rs 2,218 crore for the June-ended quarter when compared to Rs 3,920 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 4,798 crore a year ago.

Shares of Axis Bank closed 2.81 percent higher at Rs 446.20, ahead of its quarterly results.