Axis Bank Q4 profit rises 18% to Rs1.8k crore

MUMBAI: Axis Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 1,842 crore for the quarter ended March 2014 – an increase of 18% over Rs 1,555 crore in the same period last year. The annual net profit of the bank crossed the equivalent of a billion dollars for the first time in FY14 to touch Rs 6,218 crore – an increase of from Rs 5,179 crore in FY13.

In their meeting, the board of directors approved a split of the bank’s equity shares following which each share with a face value of Rs 10 will be exchanged into five equity shares with a face value of Rs 2 each. “The split is primarily to make the stock more liquid and increase retail participation in the stock,” said Somnath Sengupta, ED, Axis Bank.

The bank’s advances grew 17% year-on-year to Rs 2,30,097 crore on the back of strong retail growth. Domestic retail advances grew by 31% to Rs 70,745 crore and accounted for 36% of net domestic advances compared to 32% last year. Agriculture advances recorded a healthy growth of 20% and stood at Rs 17,836 crore, while SME advances grew by 19% and stood at Rs 35,502 crore.