Net NPA at 2.58pc lowest in last 12 quarters
MUMBAI: ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank, reported a 77 per cent sequential growth in its standalone Q3 net profit from Rs908.88 crore a quarter ago to Rs1604.91 crore for the three-month period ending December 31, 2018.
However, year-on-year, the Q3 net profit witnessed a marginal fall of 2.75 per cent from Rs1650.24 crore. The most promising aspect of the third quarter results is the encouraging trend reflected in asset quality.
The bank’s net NPA has dropped to the lowest in the past 12 quarters to 2.58 per cent compared with 3.65 per cent as of three months back – on September 30, 2018.
Likewise, the gross NPA additions decreased from Rs3,117 crore ($447million) in the quarter ended September 30, 2018 (Q2-2019) to Rs2,091 crore ($300 million) in Q3-2019 – again the lowest in the last 14 quarters.
This time too, the wholesale banking has been the villain that contributed Rs2091.83 crore loss before tax to the bottom line of the bank compared with a loss before tax of Rs1587.05 crore for the same period last year.
Both retail and treasury posted handsome profits (before tax). While the retail PBT for the quarter under review was Rs1953.21 crore compared with Rs1929.63 crore for the same period last year, the contribution by the treasury during the quarter ending December 31, 2018 was to the tune of Rs1993.74 crore against Rs1102.25 crore a year back.
The bank has been successful in improving the cost to income (CI ratio) ratio for the said quarter marginally from 42.99 per cent to 42.87 per cent on an year-on-year basis.
The retail loan book grew by 22 per cent year-on-year and constituted 59 per cent of the loan portfolio at December 31, 2018
The provision coverage ratio (PCR) on non-performing loans, including cumulative technical/prudential write-offs, increased by 690 bps sequentially, to 76.3 per cent at December 31, 2018, further strengthening the balance sheet.
“As of December 31, 2018, the bank holds a provision of Rs9,718.78 crore in respect of outstanding loans amounting to Rs12,643.38 crore to the borrowers referred to the IBC, which amounts to provision coverage of 76.9 per cent,” the bank said in a statement.
Total capital adequacy ratio was at 17.15% whereas the Tier-1 capital adequacy ratio was at 15.14 per cent on standalone basis as of December 31, 2018
