Kotak Mahindra Bank's 67% profit jump beats expectations

Kotak Mahindra Bank beat expectations on Saturday with a 67 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for the April-June quarter, helped by higher net interest income and robust loan growth.

The Mumbai-based private lender's standalone net profit rose to 34.52 billion rupees ($421.1 million) for the financial first quarter, above analysts' average estimate of 32.4 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Kotak's net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid out, increased 33 per cent to 62.34 billion rupees. Its net interest margin grew to 5.57 per cent from 4.92 per cent for the same quarter last year.

Loans grew 19 per cent , while deposits rose just over 22 per cent.

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Indian banks have continued to report double-digit credit growth in recent months owing to strong loan demand. Lenders have shored up their deposit base amid tightened liquidity conditions.

The strong credit growth has helped private banks such as HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank report double-digit profit growth for the April-June quarter.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's asset quality was largely stable during the quarter.

Its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio was at 1.77 per cent at the end of June, versus 1.78 per cent at the end of March, while the net NPA ratio was 0.40 per cent , compared with 0.37 per cent at the end of the prior three months.

Provisions and contingencies, net of recoveries made against loan accounts written off as bad, stood at 3.64 billion rupees for the quarter. Its provision coverage was 78 per cent .

($1 = 81.9800 Indian rupees)