New Delhi, April 26: Top private sector lender ICICI Bank has posted 21 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 2,304 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013, driven by core income and an expansion in margins.
The country's largest private bank had reported a profit of Rs 1,902 crore in the same period last year.
ICICI Bank Chief Executive and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar attributed the profit increase to balance sheet growth and an improvement in profitability parameters.
For the reporting quarter, the bank's net interest income grew 22 per cent over the last year's number in the same period to Rs 3,803 crore, while the non-interest income came down to Rs 2,208 crore from Rs 2,228 crore a year ago because of a slowdown on the treasury income front.
Kochhar said treasury income may rise or dip depending on the market conditions, but the slowdown in the corporate activity hurt the fees from the corporate side, which would have been better otherwise.
Net interest margin (NIM) for the January-March period increased to 3.3 per cent from the year ago's 3.01 per cent on a reduction in cost of funds (6.3 per cent versus 6.5 per cent last year), increasing yields and some one-time factors.
The share of the low-cost current and savings account deposits (CASA) improved to 41.9 per cent as on March 31, 2013 from 40.9 per cent in the year-ago period.
Kochhar said the bank is targeting to improve its FY13's NIM of 3.11 per cent by 0.10 per cent in the current fiscal.
On a consolidated basis, ICICI Bank's net profit grew 38 per cent to Rs 2,492 crore, driven largely by its general insurance subsidiary posting profit during the fiscal.
The company scrip shed 2.82 per cent to close at Rs 1,144.30 on the BSE, whose 30-share benchmark ended the session with a loss of 0.62 per cent.
During the quarter, ICICI Bank added Rs 779 crore to its gross non-performing assets as against Rs 635 crore a year ago. The gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 2.68 per cent from year ago's 3.04 per cent.
