ICICI Bank’s fourth quarter integrated net profit up 6.91 percent at Rs 1,251 crore
The bank has made a provision of Rs 2,000 crore for the possible impact of the Kovid-19 pandemic. During the quarter, the net profit of the second largest private sector bank rose by 26 percent to Rs 1,221 crore during the quarter.
New Delhi: Private sector ICICI Bank’s integrated net profit for the fourth quarter of the last financial year 2019-20 increased by 6.91 percent to Rs 1,251 crore. The bank has made a provision of Rs 2,000 crore for the possible impact of the Kovid-19 epidemic. During the quarter, the net profit of the second-largest private sector bank rose by 26 percent to Rs 1,221 crore during the quarter, from Rs 969 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. The net profit of the bank increased by 135 percent to Rs 7,930.81 crore on a single basis for the entire financial year 2019-20. On the property front, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank as on 31 March 2020 were 5.53 per cent of the total loans. In the same quarter of the previous financial year, the bank’s gross NPA was 6.70 percent. It was at 5.95 percent in the December quarter. However, in the quarter under review, some more cases worth more than Rs 5,300 crore were added to the bank’s NPA.
ICICI Bank President Sandeep Batra said that this had blocked the recovery of loans worth Rs 4,300 crore to the bank in the previous quarter. There are two reasons for the increase in NPA in the quarter under review. These include the account of a healthcare company from West Asia and a business company from Singapore. In both cases, the borrowers did not put their rightful financial position in front of the banks. The bank has made remarkable provision for both accounts and there is no possibility of further pressure from these accounts in future. Overall, the bank’s provision on a single basis increased to Rs 5,967 crore from Rs 5,451 crore a year ago and Rs 2,083 crore during the previous quarter. This includes a provision of Rs 2,725 crore made for the effect of Kovid-19.
The bank said that provision for Kovid-19 has been made for possible pressure. This is more than the Rs 600 crore provision suggested by the bank by the Reserve. Batra said that despite challenging times, the bank is seeing growth opportunities. The bank will focus more on digital options. The bank has not set any target to increase the loan for this financial year. The bank’s net interest-income grew 17 percent to Rs 8,927 crore in the quarter under review. The bank said that its net interest margin during the quarter stood at 3.87 percent. During this period, there was a 13 percent increase in income from duties. The loan business of the bank was at the level of Rs 6.45 lakh crore at the end of the quarter.
