ICICI Bank March Quarter Profit Jumps 26% To Rs 1,221 Crore

ICICI Bank Results 2020: ICICI Bank, the country's second largest private sector lender by assets, on Saturday reported a standalone profit of Rs 1,221.36 crore for the quarter ended March 31. That marked an increase of 26.04 per cent compared to its net profit of Rs 969.06 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. Net interest income (NII) - the difference between interest earned and interest expended - rose 17 per cent to Rs 8,927 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2019-20, compared to Rs 7,620 crore in the year-ago period.

ICICI Bank's net interest margin - which is a key parameter to gauge a bank's profitability - stood at 3.87 per cent in the January-March period, as against 3.72 per cent in the quarter ended March 31, 2019.

ICICI Bank reported an improvement in its asset quality during the quarter under review.

Its gross non-performing assets - or bad loans - as a percentage of total loans came in at 5.53 per cent in the March 2020 quarter, as against 5.95 per cent in the previous quarter (October-December 2019), and 6.70 per cent in the fourth quarter of financial year 2018-19.

In a regulatory filing, ICICI Bank said it made provisions worth Rs 2,725 crore related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the quarter, to further strengthen the balance sheet.

"This provision made by the bank is more than the requirement as per the Reserve Bank of India's guideline dated April 17, 2020,” ICICI Bank said in a release.

Shares in ICICI Bank had ended 0.30 per cent higher at Rs 337.75 apiece on the BSE on Friday, underperforming the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index which rose 0.63 per cent.