ICICI Bank on Saturday reported fourth-quarter standalone net profit surged more than threefold to ₹4,403 crore, from ₹1,221 crore a year earlier, helped by an almost 20% jump in retail loans and robust growth in CASA deposits.
For the full year, standalone profit more than doubled to ₹16,193 crore.
In the three months ended March 31, provisions (excluding provision for tax) stood at ₹2,883 crore, compared with ₹5,967 crore in the year-earlier quarter. The bank said it had utilised contingency provision amounting to ₹3,509 crore towards proforma NPAs as of December 31, 2020, in the fourth quarter since these loans had now been classified as per the RBI guidelines.
Further, it made additional COVID-19 related provisions of ₹1,000 crore during the fourth quarter. As of March 31, the bank held COVID-19 related provision of ₹7,475 crore which it said could be used to mitigate risk during the current fiscal.
The lender said average savings account deposits increased by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, while current account deposits climbed 33.9% from a year earlier. For the full year, total deposits grew by 21% to ₹9,32,522 crore. In Q4, retail loans expanded 19.9%, while domestic loans grew by 17.7%.
During the quarter, the gross NPA additions, excluding borrowers in the proforma NPAs as of December 31, 2020, were ₹5,523 crore . Recoveries and upgrades, excluding recoveries from proforma NPAs, write-offs and sale, from non-performing loans were ₹2,560 crore.
NPA ratio falls
The net NPA ratio declined to 1.14%, from 1.41% as at March 31, 2020. Excluding NPAs, the total fund based outstanding to all borrowers under resolution as per the various extant regulations/ guidelines was ₹3,927 crore, or about 0.5% of the total loan portfolio on March 31.
The fund-based and non-fund based outstanding to borrowers rated BB and below (excluding fund and non-fund based outstanding to NPAs) was ₹13,098 crore at March 31, 2021, compared with ₹13,654 crore as on December 31, 2020, it said.
The board has recommended a dividend of ₹2 per share. It also authorised the bank to raise up to ₹20,000 crore during the current financial year.
“We see more opportunities to grow,” Executive Director Sandeep Batra said on a post earnings conference call. “These are uncertain times. We have strengthened our balance sheet and our portfolio is best in class. We are calibrating our risk standards,” he added.
