Net interest income for the quarter rose 19 per cent from a year ago to Rs 258 crore.Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd reported a 15 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on higher interest and fee incomes and as its bad loans fell.Net profit rose to Rs 1,124 crore ($169.34 million) for the three months ended March 31 from Rs 976 crore a year ago, the Mumbai-based bank, fifth-biggest among the country's private sector lenders, said in a statement.That was in line with analysts' expectations of Rs 1,129 crore net profit for the lender, which is 30 per cent owned by its billionaire chief executive Uday Kotak, who is Asia's richest banker.Kotak Mahindra's gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans dropped to 2.22 per cent as of end-March from 2.31 per cent in the preceding quarter and 2.59 per cent a year ago.Net non-performing loans, after provisions, were 0.98 per cent of total loans as of end-March.Net interest income for the quarter rose 19 per cent from a year ago to Rs 258 crore as loans as of end-March grew 25 per cent from a year earlier.Net interest margin, however, fell to 4.35 per cent in the March quarter from 4.63 per cent a year earlier.Kotak Mahindra shares, which hit their all-time high earlier in the session, were trading 1.8 per cent higher by 0854 GMT in a Mumbai market that was up 0.44 percent.The bank is the second most valuable listed lender in India, with a market capitalisation of about $35 billion and ahead of India's biggest lender, State Bank of India.
Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)