HDFC Bank, India’s largest private lender, reported an 18 per cent year-on-year growth in standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21) at Rs 8,186 crore. It reported Rs 6,927.6 crore in the year-ago period (Q4FY20). The standalone net profit, however, declined 6.5 per cent compared with Rs 8,758 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY21). HDFC’s board of directors decided against declaring any dividend for FY21 due to the ongoing second coronavirus wave. The company’s scrip had closed marginally higher at Rs 1,430.90 (0.056 per cent) on NSE.
Net Interest Income (NII) rose 12.6 per cent to Rs 17,120 crore in the reporting quarter, compared to Rs 15,204 crore in the same period last year.
The lender said the coronavirus-induced slowdown led to a decrease in loan originations, the sale of third party products, the use of credit and debit cards by customers and also the efficiency in collection efforts. “This may lead to a rise in the number of customer defaults and consequently an increase in provisions,” it said.
“The extent to which the pandemic, including the current “second wave” that has significantly increased the number of cases in India, will continue to impact the Group’s results. The Bank’s results will depend on ongoing as well as future developments, which are highly uncertain, including, among other things, any new information concerning the severity of the pandemic and any action to contain its spread or mitigate its impact whether government-mandated or elected by us,” .
HDFC Bank said in a filing
The Bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose sequentially at 1.32 per cent in Q4FY21. In Q3FY21, gross NPA of the bank was 0.81 per cent. Meanwhile, net NPAs of the lender stood at 0.40 per cent in the March quarter. Capital adequacy ratio of the Bank at the end of March quarter stood at 18.8 per cent, well above the regulatory requirement of 11.075 per cent.
Bhoi Smrutirekha Dharanidhar