Axis Bank on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 7,129.67 crore for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of Rs 5,728.42 crore in the corresponding previous quarter.

The profit number was above brokerage estimates. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had projected a net profit of Rs 6,261 crore. The private sector lender had posted a net profit of Rs 6,071.10 crore in the preceding three months.

Core net interest income (NII-interest earned minus interest paid) rose 11 per cent to Rs 13,089 crore from Rs 11,742 crore in the year-ago period.

However, provisions increased to Rs 1,185.31 crore from Rs 305.77 crore a year ago.

Of the total provisions, the specific loan loss provision stood at Rs 832 crore. The bank added that it holds cumulative provisions (standard + additional other than NPA) of Rs 12,134 crore at the end of the quarter.

According to Axis Bank, this is over and above the NPA (non-performing assets) provisioning included in its PCR (provision coverage ratio) calculations.

During the period, its asset quality improved as the percentage of gross NPAs declined to 1.43 per cent from 1.58 per cent on a sequential basis. It was at 2.02 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2023.

“In 2023-24, Axis Bank charted a course of steady progress. Our Citi integration is on track, and we are inching towards the final milestone in the next six months,’’ Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and CEO, Axis Bank.

During the quarter, advances rose 14 per cent over the previous year to Rs 9,65,068 crore. Retail loans grew 20 per cent compared with the same quarter in the previous year to Rs 5,83,265 crore. According to Axis Bank, the share of secured retail loans was around 72 per cent, with home loans comprising 28 per cent of the retail book.