&w=3840&q=100)
Axis Bank Q4 results: Net profit flat at Rs 7,118 crore, NII up 5.5%
Axis Bank on Thursday reported a net profit of ₹7,118 crore for the January-March quarter (Q4) of 2024-25 (FY25), nearly flat numbers when compared to its net profit of ₹7,129 crore in the year-ago period. The flat numbers were mainly due to higher loan loss provisions and lower trading income. Trading income for the quarter stood at ₹173 crore down from ₹1,021 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year.
Overall non-interest income, including fee, trading, and miscellaneous income, also remained flat at ₹6,780 crore but grew 14 per cent on a sequential basis. Fee income for Q4FY25 grew 12 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹6,338 crore.
The private sector lender's net interest income rose 5.51 per cent to ₹13,810 crore. The net interest margin was at 3.97 per cent improving four basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter. The net interest income was 4.06 per cent in the same period previous year.
The bank incurred fresh slippages of ₹4,805 crore in the quarter as compared to ₹4,371 crore in the year-ago period, while upgrades and recoveries were higher at ₹2,790 crore as compared to ₹2,155 crore. Loan loss provisions increased to ₹1,369 crore from ₹832 crore.
'On slippages, the credit cycle is undergoing a normalisation. FY23 and FY24 were coming off troughs on slippages. It's just the normalisation of the credit cycle plus some correction on the unsecured retail book,' said Puneet Sharma, chief financial officer, Axis Bank, during the post-earnings media call.
Also Read
Total advances of the lender increased 7.85 per cent and stood at ₹10.41 trillion for the quarter compared to ₹9.65 trillion in the corresponding period last year. Retail loans grew 7 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹6.23 trillion and accounted for 60 per cent of net advances. The share of secured retail loans was around 72 per cent, with home loans comprising 27 per cent of the retail book.
Commenting on the slower growth of the credit card portfolio in FY25, Arjun Chowdhry, the group executive for affluent banking, non-resident Indians, cards or payments and retail lending, said that the bank will be cautious in expanding cards in force.
'We will be bringing back the acquisition but we will be doing so cautiously and in a calibrated manner. So I can't give you a number but obviously we are now looking at faster growth than we had because we believe we are seeing the stabilisation which will allow us to deliver on that growth,' Chowdhry said.
The bank's total deposits stood at ₹11.73 trillion in the quarter compared to ₹10.69 trillion in the year-ago period, a rise of 9.76 per cent. The share of current account-savings account deposits in total deposits increased to 41 per cent, up from 39 per cent in Q3FY25.
The lender's gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 1.28 per cent in Q4 from 1.43 per cent in the corresponding period. But the net non-performing assets ratio of the bank marginally went up to 0.33 per cent from 0.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Axis Bank's liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) on a consolidated basis is 118 per cent. Commenting on the impact of RBI's final norms on LCR, Sharma said, 'The RBI circular is effective April 1 of next year. On a static balance sheet basis, we do believe that the circular is neutral in our context but the balance sheet is dynamic and keeps evolving. So it would be more prudent for us to comment on this closer to the implementation date than today.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
India's hotel industry eyes double-digit growth in FY26 despite geopolitical headwinds
Even as geopolitical tensions tempered the first quarter of FY26, India's hotel industry is confident of steady growth in the full fiscal year. Many listed hotel players expect double-digit growth supported by improving consumer incomes, expanding infrastructure, and disciplined pricing strategies. This follows a strong FY25 that saw most hotel companies reporting strong revenue and profit gains, driven by rising travel demand from both business and leisure travellers. In the current year, too, the industry sees robust overall demand, with new hotel openings and increased investor interest signalling confidence in the sector's future. Also read | India's organised hotel industry has recovered to pre-pandemic levels: Report According to Chander K. Baljee, managing director of Royal Orchid Hotels, Q1 of FY26 saw some challenges in the North and West due to tensions with Pakistan, but overall the impact was limited. 'Most of our hotels are managed properties in the south, which were less affected because of geography," he toldMint. Baljee said Royal Orchid added 40 hotels in FY25 and plans to open about 30 more this year. Profits from these new hotels and renovations are expected to show up in the second half of FY26. Meanwhile, profitability in existing hotels remained strong, he added. Patanjali G. Keswani, chairman and managing director of Lemon Tree Hotels, had earlier toldMintthat both business and leisure travel across the industry slowed down after the Pahalgam attack in Kashmir and a brief rise in covid cases. 'Despite that, we are still on track to grow in mid-teens for the entire fiscal," he said. Keswani said with the country's economy growing at 6-7% in real terms (after adjusting for inflation) and 10-11% in nominal terms, and with more Indians earning around ₹3 lakh a month, a new group of travellers is entering the market each year. He also pointed out that better transport connections and more people owning SUVs is encouraging drive vacations and hotel stays. Attracting investments Keswani added that hotel companies that have recently gone public have attracted serious investors who want clearer and more transparent business information. In FY25, Schloss Bangalore (parent of The Leela), ITC Hotels (post demerger from ITC Ltd), Ventive Hospitality, and Brigade Hotels went public or filed for IPOs. A number of companies are likely to follow this year as well. Mandeep Lamba, president & CEO (South Asia) at hotel consultancy HVS Anarock, toldMintthat while geopolitical uncertainty may continue to cast a shadow globally, domestic demand remains strong enough to support growth in India's hotel sector. 'I don't foresee any major pressure on hotel rates. Compared to global benchmarks, pricing of hotel rooms in India is still relatively reasonable," he said. While a few overheated markets may see minor corrections in FY26, Lamba pointed to a noticeable shift in industry behaviour post-pandemic, where hotel operators are no longer reacting to short-term demand dips with deep rate cuts. Also read | Hotel industry's double-digit growth to continue this fiscal, says ICRA report 'There's a far more mature understanding that the market can sustain higher rates," Lamba said. 'Over the past two to three years, hotel operators have gained the confidence to hold pricing. Any rate corrections or adjustments today are a part of planned revenue strategies, rather than reactive pricing cuts." Prashant Biyani market analyst at Elara Capital toldMintthat for FY26, they expect a healthy double-digit growth for the industry driven by both average room rates and occupancy, He also expects more hotel companies to go public and international hotel chains to ramp up their presence in India. He said the April-June quarter of FY26 will likely do well, though not as well as earlier projected, as tensions between India and Pakistan in end-April and early May marred air travel. That said, the impact may be limited, since many north-western tourist spots enter a lean season in peak summer anyway. Lamba of HVS further added that supply in most Indian markets continues to lag demand. 'India has emerged as one of the top 8-10 global markets in terms of demand, but new supply isn't keeping pace," he said. 'With infrastructure development progressing rapidly, there's no real reason for rates to decline—unless triggered by an unforeseen macro disruption." Strong FY25 In FY25, most large hotel chains showed strong revenue growth. Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), which runs the Taj brand, saw revenues rising 23% to ₹8,335 crore. ITC Hotels' revenue jumped 60% to ₹3,559 crore. Other chains like Lemon Tree, Chalet Hotels, Schloss Bangalore (The Leela), and Juniper Hotels grew 15-25%. EIH, which operates Oberoi Hotels, grew its revenues 9%, and Royal Orchid Hotels, 8.7%. Looking at profits, EIH and ITC Hotels both reported steady profit growth in FY25, with ITC's net profit rising from ₹424 crore to ₹638 crore. Vikram Oberoi, MD & CEO of EIH Ltd, in the company's recently concluded earnings call, said the company will have more opportunity to drive average room rate growth within the Oberoi Hotel ecosystem. 'With strong demand, with everything that's happening in India, over the medium to long term, we'll be able to drive greater premiums in Oberoi," he said. Meanwhile, IHCL saw net profit rise 53% to ₹2,038 crore. Lemon Tree's profit grew by 34%, and Juniper Hotels' profit nearly tripled. Schloss Bangalore turned a small loss in FY24 into a ₹47.66 crore profit in FY25. Samhi Hotels also moved from an ₹80 crore loss in FY24 to a ₹20 crore profit. Also read | Indian hotels saw a tepid Q1. Will the next quarter bring cheer? Chalet Hotels, the owner of several Marriott and Taj branded properties in India, saw its profit drop by nearly half, due to a non-cash adjustment but remained Ebitda positive. Its revenue grew 22% on the back of higher average daily room rates being charged and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation —a measure of operating efficiency—increased 28%, and profit before tax rose 61%. The one-time ₹202 crore non-cash accounting adjustment lowered net profit. Excluding that, profit after tax was up 24%. Royal Orchid's revenue from operations increased steadily but profit slipped marginally by ₹3.3 crore. Baljee said profits were slightly lower last year partly because the company bought a partner's stake in its Bangalore hotel and paid upfront costs for renovating its flagship hotel in Mumbai. 'India's hotel industry RevPAR grew by 13-15% in FY25, largely due to strong room rate growth of 11-13%," said Elara's BIyani, adding that growth could have been even better if not for the dip in travel during the April-June quarter because of the general elections. RevPAR, or revenue per available room, is a simple way hotels measure how much money they're making from all their rooms, whether they're booked or not.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Indians' grocery baskets grow bigger in FY25: Kantar report
Indians made 156 shopping trips to grocery stores in FY25, unchanged since a year ago but the basket size increased in both value and number of packs, said a new report by global research firm Kantar. While they made a purchase once in every 56 hours or close to once in every two days, the average pack sizes have risen by 16%, indicating a shift towards slightly larger quantities. Also, the number of packs rose 13% or by 26 pieces translating into nearly 226 FMCG packs purchased on average compared to 200 packs in FY24. "This indicates confidence returning to the shopper. In addition to this, premiumisation continues, with moderate consumption growth, which leads us to believe that we would see moderate to strong growth in urban FMCG building up in the next quarters," said K Ramakrishnan, managing director, South Asia, Worldpanel Division. "If the macroeconomic factors remain favourable, we should also see rural recovery as we head into the second half of the year." Demand for daily groceries, household and personal products worsened to a two-year low in the March quarter. FMCG volume sales growth in Jan-March quarter was 3.5%, slowest since March quarter 2023. A year ago, the market had grown 5.5% in the same quarter. But the slowdown is not universal. For instance, of the 22 stock- market listed companies that Kantar tracked, their volume growth rate was just 3.6%. However, the rest of the branded market is doing better at 3.9% and unbranded products have seen a significantly higher growth of 6.1% in the year. "Commentary for unlisted players, including Indian subsidiaries of multinational corporations, D2C players, and regional brands indicates a slightly better performance, underscoring broader demand resilience," said Saugata Gupta, managing director at Marico , at an earnings call. "Data of some of the D2C and unlisted players do not get captured and the growth could be a tad higher," he said. Kantar monitors branded and unorganised products, including unpackaged voluminous commodities and the numbers reflect slower sales across categories and markets in the last many quarters. For most listed companies, urban markets account for anywhere between 50% and 70% of their overall sales and over the past year, inflationary pressures, low wage growth and higher housing rentals weighed on urban demand for daily groceries and staples. Consumer goods companies have posted mixed volume growth trends. Hindustan Unilever posted a 2% volume growth, while Godrej Consumer Products volume was slightly higher at 4%. Tata Consumer's volume rose about 6% and Marico saw a 7% volume growth during the March quarter. While companies have flagged a softness in demand amid shrinking household budgets, most predicted a strong recovery in this fiscal year. "I am reasonably optimistic about the recovery happening. It's not going to be a hockey stick. We have seen gradual recovery, and this trend is going to continue into the next year as well," Varun Berry, vice-chairman, Britannia , told investors. INDIAN METROS South Delhi consumers consumed 240 kg of fast-moving consumer goods per year, double the national average while with '39,325 spent on FMCG, West Delhi consumers outpaced the entire country by twice as much. An average urban Indian household makes 128 visits to the shop to buy FMCG (excludes atta). The average Mumbai household visits 135 times for the same annually. But the households in the slum belt purchase FMCG in 233 visits. This corridor comprises localities such as Dharavi, Bandra East, Khar East, Santacruz East, Dawri Nagar, Prabhat Colony, etc., and purchases just 541 grams in every visit, the least among all metro clusters across India. With ₹227 spent on every kilo of FMCG on an average, Southwest Bengaluru comprising RR Nagar, Mysore Road, and Kengeri is the most premium FMCG cluster among top metros. Average city level spend-per-kg of FMCG itself is a strong ₹211 in Bengaluru, while no other city has a per-kg spend of more than ₹195.
The Hindu
10 hours ago
- The Hindu
More Rhodes scholarships to Oxford University for Indians from 2028
The Rhodes Scholarship Trust, which offers the prestigious scholarship for studying at the University of Oxford, is aiming to increase the number of scholarships for Indians from 2028, to align with the country's population strength, Richard Trainor, the trust's CEO, said. Mr. Trainor, who was in India ahead of the announcement of applications for the 2026 academic session, told PTI in an interview that six scholarships are presently offered to Indian candidates annually. "The priority now is to try to get some additional scholarships for places where the number of scholars per head of population could be higher, and India is one of those places. So, we have six scholarships a year for India, which is good, but there are a billion and a half people in this country, as you know, so there should be more scholarships," Mr. Trainor, who is also the interim warden of the Rhodes House, said. "We are trying to raise money for additional scholarships, because the trust needs to have that money in the endowment in order to pay the fees to the University of Oxford, and to pay the living expenses of the scholars," he said. The other regions on the trust's radar for increasing the number of scholarships are China, and Africa. At present, four scholarships are offered to candidates from China, and 21 scholarships are offered to candidates from Africa. "We would like to have some additional scholars in each of these three areas by the time of the 125th anniversary of the scholarship scheme, which is 2028. We are going to have a big push on fundraising between now and the 125th anniversary," Mr. Trainor said. Mr. Trainor, who himself was a Rhodes Scholar in 1970, says people often talk about the Rhodes Scholarship transforming their lives. '...it also transformed mine. I had barely been out of the United States at the time that I took up the scholarship and, you know, it broadened my view of the world and led to my becoming a historian of another country, and then making my career in another country, and so on,' he said. "So, and then having this series of academic leadership jobs which have been very international in scope. Scholarships was totally beyond my background and aspirations at that stage," he said. The Rhodes Scholarship is given to outstanding students to undertake two to three years of study, depending on the academic curriculum taken, at the University of Oxford. Students aged 18–23 years (up to 27 years in particular circumstances) are eligible to apply. The Rhodes Scholarship is among the world's pre-eminent and oldest graduate fellowships, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme awards 106 fully funded scholarships to students from anywhere in the world with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, achievement in extracurricular activities and a commitment to solving humanity's challenges. The applications for the 2026 session began on June 3 and are open till July 23. Noted Rhodes scholars from India include the late Olympian Ranjit Bhatia, the late playwright Girish Karnad, economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, researcher and historian Mahesh Rangarajan, environmental law expert Lavanya Rajamani, among others.
