ICICI Bank Ltd, India's second-biggest lender by assets, on Thursday beat estimates with a 17 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, helped by growth in credit demand and higher fee income.
Indian lenders, including ICICI and its private sector rivals HDFC Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd, are betting on an economic recovery to spur demand for loans after a new government was formed in May.
The economy grew less than 5 per cent in each of the last two fiscal years, squeezing credit growth and leading to higher defaults.
Net income for the Indian banking sector is expected to grow 22.4 per cent in the next 12 months, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimates, which would be the fastest earnings growth in the sector in the Asia-Pacific region.
ICICI's net profit for its fiscal first quarter ended June rose to Rs 2,655 crore from Rs 2,274 crore a year earlier, the bank said on Thursday. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 2,573 crore.
Net non-performing loans as a percentage of loans were 0.99 per cent compared with 0.97 per cent in the March quarter. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, grew 18 per cent to Rs 4,492 crore in the quarter.
Net interest margin rose to 3.40 per cent from 3.27 per cent a year earlier. Retail loans grew 26 per cent annually, faster than a 15 per cent growth in total credit demand for the bank.
ICICI, which is the largest private sector lender in India, where nearly two dozen state banks account for two-thirds of the assets, said fee income rose 8 per cent in the June quarter to Rs1,936 crore.
Of the 49 analysts tracking ICICI, 42 have a "buy" or equivalent rating, six have a "hold" and one recommends selling the stock, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Shares in ICICI, valued at more than Rs 1.68 lakh crore, closed down 1.1 per cent at Rs 1,473 while the broader Nifty closed 0.9 per cent lower.
Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2014
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