Axis Bank

The Bank posted its Q1Fy15 numbers after market closure and they were nothing to get excited about, though in anticipation, the stock had hit a new record high yesterday. The market is most likely to ignore the 18% rise in net profit at Rs.1667 crore and concentrate more on the deteriorating asset quality. Its Gross NPA for the quarter came in at 1.34% v/s 1.22% (QoQ) and Net NPA too rose marginally from 0.4% to 0.44%.

NII rose to Rs 3,310 crore, V/s Rs 2,865.20 crore, up 15% (YoY). What really helped the rise in net profit, apart from rise in NII was the lower provisioning.  For current Q1, provisions against bad loans were down 46% though Gross NPA had risen. Provision coverage was 77% of total bad loans. Our Editor, Mr.SP Tulsian, has stated in our Market Whispers column that the stock can correct to Rs.1965 due to the flat numbers and fall in asset quality.