The Hindu Business Line : ICICI Bank net jumps 35 pc in Q4

LOWER cost of funds and robust fee income have enabled ICICI Bank to post a 35 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 455 crore for the fourth quarter of 2003-04, up from Rs 338 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The bank has proposed a dividend of Rs 7.50 per share. This is in compliance with new RBI guidelines that necessitate a net NPA figure of below 3 per cent for banks declaring dividend above 25 per cent.

For the full year ended March 2004, the bank registered a 36 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,637 crore (Rs 1,206 crore).

Announcing the results here on Friday, Mr K.V. Kamath, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, said the new shares issued by the bank through the recent public issue will also be eligible for dividend. The total outgo on account of dividend would be Rs 614 crore, he said.

Net interest income in the fourth quarter jumped by 37 per cent to Rs 528 crore, up from Rs 385 crore previously. Fee income jumped by 64 per cent to Rs 374 crore (Rs 227 crore). The net interest margin of the bank for fiscal 2004 stood at 1.8 per cent (1.4 per cent).

The retail portfolio of the bank grew 74 per cent to Rs 33, 423 crore while the corporate book shrunk. Deposits increased 41 per cent to Rs 68,109 crore.

The bank, capitalising on its strength of origination and structuring, has sold down/securitised assets worth Rs 10,700 crore in the fiscal.

The net NPA has been brought down to 2.87 per cent of net advances for the year (4.92 per cent). This reduction has been possible through asset sales to the Asset Reconstruction Company of India Ltd (ARCIL), provisions from handsome treasury gains, recovery and settlement with borrowers.

ICICI Bank sold net bad loans of Rs 1,200 crore, equivalent to gross bad assets of Rs 2,400 crore on receipt of Rs 1,200 crore from ARCIL. These assets have been removed from the bank's books.

The average cost of funds has came down to 7 per cent as on March 2004 from 8.9 per cent in the previous year. The bank has refinanced Rs 9,000 crore of the erstwhile ICICI's liabilities this fiscal, reducing the cost to 4 per cent (11 per cent). Another Rs 9,000 crore, out of the total liabilities of Rs 28,000 crore, are to be refinanced in 2005.

The bank's share fell marginally on the BSE by 0.99 per cent to Rs 315.20 and on the NSE by 1.18 per cent to Rs 315.

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