Mumbai, Jan 22 (IANS) India's largest private lender HDFC Bank (NSE:HDBK) on Wednesday reported a 2.2 per cent rise in its net profit for Q3 this fiscal, as its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio rose during the quarter.For the December quarter, the bank's profit stood at Rs 16,736 crore, compared to Rs 16,373 crore in the same period last year.
Net interest income, or the bank's core income, rose nearly 8 per cent (year-on-year) to Rs 30,650 crore. Core net interest margin stood at 3.43 per cent for the bank and 3.62 per cent on an interest-earning asset basis.
In the September quarter, the respective figures were at 3.46 per cent and 3.65 per cent.
The bank also saw an increase in interest earned, which grew by 7.6 per cent. It earned Rs 76,007 crore in Q3FY25, up from Rs 70,583 crore in the same quarter last year.
At the same time, HDFC Bank paid Rs 45,354 crore in interest for the quarter, which was a 7.7 per cent rise from Rs 42,111 crore in Q3 FY24.
However, the private sector bank's asset quality deteriorated, with the gross NPA ratio rising to 1.42 per cent as of December, compared to 1.36 per cent in the previous quarter. The net NPA ratio rose to 0.46 per cent from 0.41 per cent in the prior quarter.
According to the filing, earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was Rs 23.1 and book value per share as of December 31, 2024 was Rs 656.6.
HDFC Bank's operating expenses stood at Rs 17,110 crores, an increase of 7.2 per cent from Rs 15,960 crores in the same period last year.
The company's cost-to-income ratio was 40.6 per cent in Q3. The average deposits also increased in the same quarter by 15.9 per cent at Rs 24,52,800 crore from Rs 21,17,100 crore for the same period last year.
In Q3 FY25, the total balance sheet size was Rs 37,59,000 crore as against Rs 34,92,600 crore as of December 31, 2023.
Although the profit after tax (PAT) was slightly lower than expected, the bank's shares gained more than 1 per cent. The shares reached a high of Rs 1,659.90 in the stock market during intra-day trading on Wednesday.
--IANS
pk/na