HDFC Bank net up 20.6% to Rs 2,807 crore

Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday reported a 20.6 per cent rise in net profit for the March quarter at Rs 2,807 crore, aided by a healthy growth in core interest income. For the full fiscal ending March 2015, the bank for the first time crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark in profit, at Rs 10,216 crore, up 20.5 percent from FY 2014.

The bank had consistently delivered 30 per cent quarterly growth in net profit till last year. Its profit was Rs 2,326.52 crore in the same period last fiscal. The core income of the bank, which is the most valuable lender in the world on a book value basis, rose 21.4 per cent to Rs 6,013.2 crore on a advances growth of 21.2 per cent.

Net interest margin (NIM) stood stable at 4.4 per cent, the highest in the industry. HDFC Bank’s Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar hinted that it will be able to manage the elevated NIM in spite of the base rate cut of 0.15 per cent, giving past experience of protecting the margins in the 4.1 to 4.5 per cent range despite rate cuts.