Axis Bank’s consolidated net profit for the December quarter zoomed nearly three-fold to Rs 3,973 crore as the money set aside for any reverses on loans reduced to nearly a third of the year-ago period.

On a standalone basis, the third largest private sector lender on Monday reported a profit after tax of Rs 3,614.24 crore against Rs 1,116 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 3,133 crore in the preceding September quarter.

The bank’s core net interest income grew 17 per cent to Rs 8,653 crore on the back of a 17 per cent loan growth and a marginal expansion in the net interest margin to 3.53 per cent when adjusted for the benefit of tax refund in the year-ago period.

Non-interest income grew 15 per cent to Rs 3,344 crore, helped by a 16 per cent growth in the retail fees which now constitute 65 per cent of the income line.

The overall provisions came down to Rs 1,334.83 crore for the bank against Rs 3,757.20 crore in the year-ago period, and the over Rs 5,000 crore in excess provisions for Covid were untouched.

SBI Cards

SBI Cards and Payment Services on Monday reported an 84 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 386 crore for the December quarter of 2021-22 on the back of healthy card spends, a fall in bad loans and higher income from other sources.

The pure-play credit card issuer promoted by SBI had posted a net profit of Rs 210 crore in the year-ago period.

Total revenues of the company rose 24 per cent to Rs 3,140 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 2,540 crore in the same period of 2020-21, SBI Card said.