ICICI Bank posts 30% profit at R1,956 cr

ICICI Bank beat market forecasts with its standalone profit after tax rising 30 per cent to Rs 1,956 crore for the quarter ended September as against Rs 1,503 crore in the same period of the previous year. The bank has written off Rs 500 crore of Deccan Chronicle's loan after the company defaulted on repayment.

Driven by a rise in net interest income and strong growth in advances, the net profit for the half year rose to Rs 3,771 crore from Rs 2,835 crore. On a consolidated basis, net profit of the bank for the second quarter rose 20 per cent to Rs 2,390.37 crore from Rs 1,991.68 crore a year ago.

Without naming Deccan Chronicle, ICICI MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar said the bank wrote off Rs 500 crore loan of a media company. Banks had recently claimed that the company borrowed in excess of Rs 4,300 crore in the 15 months ended June, 2011.

The bank's net interest income increased 35 per cent to Rs 3,371 crore in the quarter from Rs 2,506 crore in the previous quarter. Net interest margin (NIM) improved to 3.00 per cent for the quarter from 2.61 per cent. "Retail assets, in terms of quality, have been stable and their performance has been good," Kochhar told reporters.

Kochhar attributed the robust numbers to the strong dividend income from its subsidiaries like insurance and broking, among others, apart from good retail-driven advances which pushed up the net interest income.

United Bank net up 16%

MUMBAI: United Bank of India has reported 16 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 144.63 crore for Q2 ended September, 2012. The bank's net profit in the same quarter a year ago stood at Rs 124.77 crore. Total income of the bank during the quarter was at Rs 2,532.39 crore, up from Rs 2,101.51 crore in the same period of 2011-12.

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