Axis Bank profit rises 83% in Q2

Axis Bank Ltd on Friday said its second quarter net profit rose 82.62% on the back of higher net interest income and other income.

The bank posted a net profit Rs 789.61 crore for the three months ended 30 September, compared with Rs 432.38 crore in the year-ago period. Profit was higher than Rs 758.9 crore estimated by a Bloomberg poll of 22 analysts.

Net interest income, or the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits, increased 15.25% to Rs 5,232.11 crore from Rs 4,539.62 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Other income, which includes core fee income, rose 3.59% to Rs 2678.38 crore in the three months from Rs 2585.40 crore a year ago.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs), as a percentage of total advances, were at 5.96% in the September quarter, compared with 6.52% in the June quarter, and 5.90% in the year-ago September quarter.

Provisions during the quarter decreased 6.78% to Rs 2,927.38 crore, against Rs 3,140.41 crore in the year-ago quarter. In the April-June quarter, the bank had set aside Rs 3,337.70 crore as provisions.

Post-provision, the net NPA ratio was at 2.54%, against 3.09% in the April-June quarter, and 3.12% in the year-ago quarter.

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MD of HDFC Life appointed as CEO & MD of Axis Bank

Ending the speculation around the appointment of its next head once Shikha Sharma demits office, Axis Bank today chose Amitabh Chaudhry, 54, as the next CEO. 

Chaudhry, who is currently the managing director of HDFC Life was widely speculated to take over as the next boss at Axis. 

He will take over as MD & CEO for 3 years from January 1, 2019 and will remian in office till December 31, 2021. 

"We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Bank at its meeting held today has taken on record the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the appointment of Shri Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank. for a period of 3 years. with effect from 1 January, 2019 up to 31 December, 2021 (both days inclusive) and the terms and conditions relating to the said appointment, including remuneration," Axis Bank said in a notice to the BSE.

The Axis board will now meet to approve the appointment of Chaudhry as additional director. 

"After an extensive search, my fellow directors and I are pleased to welcome Amitabh as the Bank's MD & CEO. Amitabh has a proven track record and is well-equipped to lead Axis Bank in pursuing its growth ambitions balanced with a strong emphasis on risk and compliance management," said Sanjiv Misra, chairman, Axis Bank. 

Chaudhry has been with HDFC Standard Life since January 2010 and is widely credited for the insurance company's sucessful IPO earlier this year. 

He started his career in the corporate banking with Bank of America in 1987, where before moving to CALYON Bank as its managing director, head south east Asian investment banking and Head technology investment banking. 

He also worked for Infosys BPO between 2003 and 2006. He is a B. Tech in (Electronic & Electricals) from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. 

"I would like to thank the RBI and the Axis Bank Board for the privilege and honor given to me to lead this great institution. Axis Bank is amongst the leading private sector banks in the country. Together, with the support of the Board and the Axis team, I am confident of continuing the bank's remarkable journey these past 25 years and to contribute to its future growth," Chaudhry said in a press release. 

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Axis Bank Q1 profit nearly halves YoY as provisions jump 43%

Axis Bank on Monday posted 46.30 per cent YoY fall in net profit at Rs 701.09 crore for the quarter ended June. It had reported a net profit of Rs 1,305.60 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

ETNow poll had predicted a net profit of Rs 600 crore for the June quarter.

Provisions increased 42.51 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 3,337.70 crore in Q1FY19 over Rs 2,341.93 crore in Q1FY18. They declined 53.51 per cent on quarter-on-quarter basis.

Net interest income of the bank increased 11.92 per cent YoY to Rs 5,166.80 crore for the quarter under review against Rs 4,616.14 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Asset quality of the lender improved during the quarter with percentage of gross non-performing assets coming in at 6.52 per cent against 6.77 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Percentage of net NPA declined to 3.09 per cent from 3.40 per cent on QoQ basis.

The bank’s balance sheet grew 14 per cent YoY and stood at Rs 6,92,686 crore as on June 30. Axis Bank’s advances grew 14 per cent YoY to Rs 4,41,074 crore for the quarter under review.

The private sector lender had reported its first-ever loss since listing at Rs 2,188.74 crore in the sequential quarter ended March 2018.

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One of the PSU banker is being considered for Axis Bank top job

P S Jayakumar, chief executive of Bank of Baroda (BoB), could become the successor of Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma. Earlier this year, the appointments committee of the bank had hired Egon Zhender to identify a new CEO after Sharma said she would step down prematurely on December 2018 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised questions over her three-year term.

According to a TOI report, the Zhender-led search panel is understood to be considering Jayakumar, a former Citibanker and the first lateral recruit into the top position at a public-sector bank and whose term comes to an end this year.

Jayakumar, 56, joined BoB on October 2015 and was heading VBHC Value Homes prior to taking charge of the lender. Those close to him said that he had taken permission from private equity investors in the earlier firm to take public office and was not keen on the private sector. However, uncertainty over what the government wants to do with PSBs might alter his plans.

Jayakumar is one of the only two bankers selected by the government to head a PSB. The other being Rakesh Sharma, former CEO of private lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank, was appointed to head Bengaluru-based Canara Bank.

In his three-year tenure, Jayakumar has been on the forefront at cleaning up the bank’s balance sheet and drawing up a road map for growing the retail business and investing in technology.

The board’s appointment committee would have to come up with a shortlist soon considering that a candidate would need to be finalised by September 2018. Within the bank, deputy MD V Srinivasan and executive director Rajiv Anand are potential candidates.

Once the search panel shortlists the candidates, the board would have to interview each of them and make a choice. This process is expected to take a few weeks. Once the CEO is finalised, the appointment has to be approved by the shareholders and the RBI — under its fit and proper guidelines.

In July last year, Axis Bank reappointed its CEO & MD Shikha Sharma for three years from June 2018. It was her fourth three-year term. In April this year, it was reported that the RBI had asked the Axis Bank board to reconsider her new term due to bank’s performance and deteriorating asset quality.

Sharma’s term will come to an end in December this year. In April, the board of directors of the bank wrote to the RBI, saying that Sharma had requested them to reduce her fourth term to December 2018, instead of May 2021.

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Axis Bank posts Q4 loss over provisions for bad loans

Axis Bank Ltd, India’s third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a surprise fourth-quarter loss, plagued by a rise in provisions for bad loans.

Net loss was Rs2,189 crore ($327.94 million) for the three months ended 31 March, compared with a profit of Rs1,225 crore a year ago, the Mumbai-based bank said.

Analysts had on average expected a profit of Rs514 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 6.77% at end-March, compared with 5.28% in the preceding quarter and 5.04% a year ago. 

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PNB fraud case: SFIO calls ICICI Bank CEO, Axis Bank MD

Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has issued notices to ICICI Bank's CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank's Managing Director Shikha Sharma in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam worth Rs 12,700 crore.

They were asked to appear in the Mumbai SFIO today. The investigative body has authorised them to send representatives in case they are not able to appear themselves.

The representatives from Axis Bank arrived at SFIO some time back for being questioned and have left now. Shikha Sharma was not present. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank representatives are yet to come.

BSE has sought clarification from ICICI Bank and Axis Bank with respect to the news, but both the banks have not responded yet.

The Enforcement Directorate told that Choksi and Modi diverted money to related companies.The ED has also traced some of the money being routed back to the banks for re-issuing letter of undertaking, or LoUs.

A consortium of 31 banks led by ICICI Bank has loans close to Rs 5,200 crore to Mehul Chokshi's Gitanjali Group. Nirav Modi firms Stellar Diamond and Solar Exports and Diamonds have together borrowed close to Rs 4,000 crore from banks.Separately, the ED is also investigating the planned listing of Choksi's Nakshtra World, and Modi's Firestar International.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is hoping to recover Rs 3,000-4,000 crore from the real estate assets seized from Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, sources told Moneycontrol.

This is in addition to the diamonds and precious stones seized by ED from the two groups, which is valued at Rs 5,816 crore. The ED’s estimate of the value of precious stones seized from the two groups is based on the stock value, which is always higher than the market value of the stones.

PNB had informed stock exchanges about the Rs 11,400 crore worth of unauthorised transactions at its Brady House branch based on forged letters of undertaking (LoUs).

The bank had alleged that two of its officials had issued the forged LoUs, which allowed the Gitanjali group and Nirav Modi group of companies to borrow money from overseas banks, with PNB as the guarantor of the loans.

Source- Moneycontrol

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More Indian banks entangled in PNB fraud

At least three more Indian banks – two from the public sector and one private – are likely to have been caught in the Rs 11,000-crore fraud that hit the Punjab National Bank(PNB) on Wednesday. 

Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank are said to have offered credit based on letters of undertaking (LOUs) issued by PNB.

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Axis Bank Q3 result, net profit rises 25%

Axis Bank Ltd on Monday reported a 25.3% increase in its fiscal-third quarter profit as the bank provided lower provisions against its bad loans.

Net profit rose to Rs726.44 crore for the quarter ended 31 December from Rs579.57 crore a year ago. According to 16 Bloomberg analysts’ estimates, the bank was expected to post a net profit of Rs818.70 crore.

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