Axis Bank on Thursday released earnings report for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. In the January to March period, the private lender posted a net loss of ₹5,728 crore, owing to the acquisition of Citi Bank’s India business during the quarter under review. The bank posted a profit of ₹4,117.77 crore in the same period last year. In the December quarter of FY23, the bank’s profit stood at ₹5,583.07 crore. Excluding exceptional items, the profit after tax stood at ₹6,625.29 crore during the quarter under review. This is the first financial earnings results by the bank after the acquisition of Citi Bank’s India business.
"The bank made prudent accounting choices in relation to one-time non-recurring items aggregating to₹ 12,490 crores comprising (i) full amortisation of intangibles and goodwill which is equal to the value of purchase consideration paid/payable on the acquisition of Citibank India Consumer Business; (ii) charged completely to the Profit & Loss account, the impact of policy harmonization on operating expenses and provisions; and (iii) one-time stamp duty on the acquisition. These have been charged to the Profit and Loss Account in Q4 of FY23 and reported as Exceptional Items. Consequently, reported net loss in Q4FY23 stood at ₹5,728 crores," says the regulatory filing by the bank.
In the quarter-ended March, the bank’s interest income (NII) surged 33% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹11,742.2 crore as against ₹8,819.1 crore in the same period last year. The bank’s net interest margin (NIM) during the quarter under review stood at 4.22% up 73 basis points (bps) YoY. In the March quarter, fee income grew 24% YoY and 14% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to ₹4,676 crore. Retail fees grew 31% YOY and 14% QoQ; and constituted 69% of the Bank’s total fee income. Retail Assets (excluding cards and payments) fee grew 22% YOY and 12% QOQ. Retail cards and payments fees grew 50% YoY and 14% QoQ. The corporate & Commercial banking fees together grew 12% YoY and 13% QoQ.
During the quarter, the bank infused additional equity capital of ~92 68 crores in Axis Finance Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank. For the quarter-ended and year-ended March 31, 2023, the Bank allotted 18,95,094 and 71,04,176 equity shares under its Employee Stock Option Scheme. In the March quarter, the bank’s reported Gross NPA (non-performing assets) and Net NPA levels were 2.02% and 0.39% respectively as against 2.38% and 0.47% in the December quarter of FY23.
The Board of Directors has recommended dividend of ₹1 per equity share of face value of ₹2 per equity share for the year ended 31st March 2023. This would be subject to approval by the shareholders at the next annual general meeting, according to the bank.
