ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank of the country, reported 19% decline in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2016 to ₹2,442 crore mainly due to rise in bad loans. The bank added ₹7,000 crore gross non-performing assets, which was lower than the second quarter, Chanda Kochhar, managing director of the bank, told reporters, adding that the decrease in profit was due to the higher base of 2nd quarter of last fiscal which was boosted by one-time gain of about ₹1,200 crore due to a stake sale in its life insurance subsidiary. Its gross NPAs rose ₹37,717 crore (7.91%) as on end December from ₹21,149 crore (4.72%) a year ago. — Special Correspondent
