ICICI Bank Q4 net rises 39% to Rs 1,149 crores

Moderate provisioning and lower deposit growth helped the country’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank post a 39% rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008. The net profit rose to Rs 1,148.8 crore from Rs 825.1 crore in the comparable period. The bank’s net interest income for the fourth quarter grew by 29% to Rs 2,080 crore as against Rs 1,609 crore in the year-ago period. Non-interest income, which comprises both fee income and income from treasury operations, rose marginally by 12% to Rs 2,361 crore.

Rising interest rates seems to be taking a toll on the bank’s retail operations on both the assets and liabilities’ side. While deposits in the March quarter have grown by just 6% to Rs 244,431 crore, advances rose by around 15% to Rs 225,616 crore. Retail advances rose 3% to Rs 131,663 crore. The average net interest margin for the fourth quarter was at 2.4% as against 2.3% the previous year.

The net profit for the year rose 33% to Rs 4,157 crore as compared to Rs 3,110 crore in FY07. The bank has taken Rs 680 crore hit for the year on accounts of its overseas books. Following the $5bn raised in ‘07-08, the bank has managed to improve its credit-deposit ratio to 92% from 85% last year.