ICICI Bank's Q3 profit takes a hit on higher provisions

ICICI Bank on Wednesday posted lower-than-expected financial results for the quarter ended December 31. The lender reported 2.75 per cent fall in profit at Rs 1,604.91 crore in Q3FY19 over Rs 1,,650.24 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.Analysts in an ETNow poll had projected a profit of Rs 1,900 crore.Asset quality of improved with percentage of gross non-performing assets (NPA) coming in at 7.75 per cent against 8.54 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Percentage of net NPA eased to 2.58 per cent over 3.65 per cent QoQ.Gross NPA additions decreased from Rs 3,117 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2018 to Rs 2,091 crore in Q3FY19, the lowest in the last 14 quarters. NPAs amounting to Rs 4,063 crore were either recovered or resolved through sale in Q3FY19.Net interest margin stood at 3.40 per cent in Q3FY19. Net interest income of the lender jumped 21 per cent YoY to Rs 6,875 crore during the quarter under review.Provisions and contingencies increased 18.89 per cent to Rs 4,244.15 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 3,569.56 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The figure stood at Rs 3,994.29 crore in the preceding quarter ended September 30.CASA deposits increased by 15 per cent YoY to Rs 2,99,374 crore at December 31. The bank’s CASA ratio stood at 49.3 per cent as of December 31 compared with 50.8 per cent at September quarter end and 50.4 per cent at December 31, 2017.The average CASA ratio stood at 46 per cent in Q3FY19 compared to 47.1 per cent in Q2FY19.The private sector lender announced its financial results post market hours. Earlier in the day, shares of ICICI Bank advanced 5.29 per cent to Rs 365.25 ahead of Q3 earnings.Operating profit of ICICI Bank increased to Rs 6,146.42 crore in Q3FY19 over Rs 5,057.75 crore in Q3FY18.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2G8JB9a