Private lender, ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 26 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs 1,221 crore for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of Rs 1,505 crore in the same quarter in 2019. Bank’s net profit in 2019 was at Rs 969 crore.

According to an average estimate of CNBC TV18 poll of analysts, the net profit of was expected around Rs 3,485 crore for the quarter under review.

Total income during the quarter under review increased to Rs 23,443.66 crore, from Rs 20,913.82 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal, ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.

However, the bank had posted a net interest income of Rs 8,927 crore, 17 per cent higher. The core operating profit (profit before provisions and tax excluding treasury income) rose by 18 per cent YoY to Rs 7,148 crore in the quarter under review.

On the assets front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 5.53 per cent of gross advances as on March 31, 2020, compared to 6.70 per cent last year. Net NPAs or bad loans were trimmed to 1.41 per cent as against 2.06 per cent.

Net interest margin stood at 3.87 per cent in Q4 and fee income grew by 13 per cent, it added.

“Excluding COVID-19 related provisions, the profit after tax would have been Rs 3,260 crore (USD 431 million),” the private sector lender said.

The bank said it made provisions (excluding those related to COVID-19 and provision for tax) of Rs 3,242 crore (USD 428 million) towards bad loans during the quarter under review. The bank also set aside COVID-19 related provisions of Rs 2,725 crore (USD 360 million).

“This provision made by the Bank is more than the requirement as per the Reserve Bank of India’s guideline,” the ICICI Bank release said.

The bank’s net profit for the full year jumped 136 per cent to Rs 7,931 crore (USD 1 billion) from Rs 3,363 crore (USD 444 million) in 2018-19.

On consolidated basis, the net profit in Q4 FY20 rose to Rs 1,251 crore from Rs 1,170 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal.

Consolidated profit after tax was Rs 9,566 crore (USD 1.3 billion) in 2019-20, compared to Rs 4,254 crore (USD 562 million) in the previous year, ICICI Bank said.