Axis Bank, not surprisingly in the top loser on the BSE since the opening bell. The stock, which had closed yesterday at Rs.529.05, went down to an intra day low of Rs.490 and is now ruling at Rs.492 levels, down 7%.

The private sector bank’s performance for Q2FY17 was a real shocker with net profit plunging down 83% (YoY) at Rs.319 crore and to clean up its books, its provisions rose over 5 times to Rs.3623 crore. Thus it all renders the 11% rise in NII at Rs.4514 crore and a 18% growth in advances. The Bank said that its retail advances, which accounts for 42% of its net advances was up by a good 25% and corporate, accounting for 45% of loan book, rose 14%. NIM slipped from 3.79% to 3.64% (QoQ).

The most disturbing aspect was the asset quality. Gross NPA was up sharply from 2.4% to 4.17% (QoQ) while net NPA rose from 1.08% to 2.02%. The Bank stated that loans outstanding on the watchlist reduced 32 percent over the previous quarter and stood at Rs 13,789 crore. The reduction primarily represents slippages to NPAs amounting to Rs 7,288 crore, which comprised 89 percent of the total corporate credit slippages. Net restructured assets in Q2 were at Rs.6702 crore v/s Rs.7363 crore in Q2, down 9%. It sold assets with a net book value of Rs.1128 crore to asset reconstruction companies for Rs.822 crore.