ICICI posts slowest quarterly growth in four years

ICICI Bank, India's biggest private sector lender, posted its slowest quarterly growth in four years as asset quality worsened and funds set aside for bad loans and contingencies almost doubled from a year earlier.

Net profit reached Rs 25.3 billion in October-December from Rs 22.5 billion a year earlier, the bank said on Wednesday. That was higher than the Rs 24.6 billion rupee mean estimate of 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net interest income, or the difference between interest earned and paid, rose about 22 per cent to 42.6 billion rupees. Net non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) as a percentage of total assets rose to 0.94 per cent from 0.76 per cent.

Net interest margin improved to 3.32 per cent from 3.07 per cent.

Shares of ICICI, with a market value of $18.6 billion, briefly fell after the results but pared losses to trade up 0.9 per cent at Rs 1,027. The broader market BSE Sensex was up 0.43 per cent.

ICICI's results compare with rivals YES Bank, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank, which posted third-quarter profit growth of 21 per cent, 25 per cent, 30 per cent respectively.

(Reuters)