HDFC Bank Q4 net profit up 20% to Rs 3,374 crore

HDFC Bank reported a 20% rise in its net profit at Rs 3,374 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2016.The country's second-largest private lender had registered a net profit of Rs 2,807 crore in same quarter of 2014-15.

Total income during the quarter rose to Rs 18,862.61 crore, from Rs 15,570.1 crore a year earlier.

"Net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for the quarter ended March grew 24% to Rs 7,453.3 crore, from Rs 6,013.2 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, driven by average assets growth of 23.8% and a core net interest margin of 4.3%," HDFC Bank said in a statement.

On the asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were flat at 0.94% of gross advances.

Net non-performing assets were at 0.3% of net advances as on March 31, 2016. Total restructured loans were at 0.1% of gross advances at the end of 2016-17.

Provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended March were Rs 662.5 crore as against Rs 576.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last year, it said.

The board recommended a dividend of Rs 9.50 per share of Rs 2 for the year ended March as against Rs 8 for the previous year.

For 2015-16, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 12,296.2 crore, an increase of 20.4 per cent from Rs 10,215.92 crore in the previous year.

The bank's income was Rs 70,973.17 crore in 2015-16 compared with Rs 57,466.25 crore in the previous financial year.

The stock was trading at Rs 1,096.85, up by 0.5%, on BSE.