The country's largest private sector lender - HDFC Bank - on Saturday reported net profit of Rs 10,342 crore in quarter ended December 2021, marking an increase of 18 per cent from the same period last year. The jump in profit was aided by sharply lower provisioning for bad loans during the quarter. Its provisions for contingencies declined 24 per cent sequentially to Rs 2,993.98 crore versus Rs 3,924.66 crore in September quarter, its earnings release showed.
HDFC Bank's net interest income, or the difference between interest earned from loans and advances and interest expended on deposits, rose 13 per cent to Rs 18,443.48 crore as against Rs 16,317.61 crore in the same quarter last year.
The bank's asset quality saw a slight improvement during the third quarter of current financial year as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances came in at 1.26 per cent versus 1.35 per cent in the previous quarter. Its gross NPAs stood at Rs 16,013.55 crore.
“The impact of COVID-19, including changes in customer behaviour and pandemic fears, as well as restrictions on business and individual activities, has led to significant volatility in global and Indian financial markets and a significant decrease in global and local economic activities. The disruptions following the outbreak, have impacted loan originations, the sale of third party products, the use of credit and debit cards by customers and the efficiency in collection efforts resulting in increase in customer defaults and consequent increase in provisions there against,” HDFC Bank said in stock exchange filing.
"The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact the Bank's results will depend on ongoing as well as future developments, which are uncertain, including, among other things, any new information concerning the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and any action to contain its spread or mitigate its impact whether government-mandated or elected by us," the Mumbai-based lender added.
The bank added 294 branches and 16,852 people over the last 12 months. At the end of December quarter the bank had 5,779 branches and 17,238 ATM machines in 2,956 cities, HDFC Bank said.
HDFC Bank shares ended 1.11 per cent higher at Rs 1,545 on Friday a day ahead of its earnings release.
