Mumbai, Oct. 26: ICICI Bank today reported a 30 per cent increase in standalone net profits at Rs 1,956 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, easily beating estimates on the Street.

Analysts had expected the lender to post a net profit of around Rs 1,800 crore. In the same period last year, it had a net profit of Rs 1,503 crore.

The strong growth in net profit came on the back of a robust growth in credit even as asset quality remained stable. As a result of strong growth in its retail loan book, net interest income (NII) ' which represents a bank's core income ' rose 35 per cent to Rs 3,371 crore in the quarter from Rs 2,506 crore in the same period last year. NII is interest earned minus interest paid by a bank.

ICICI Bank said advances rose 18 per cent to Rs 2,75,076 crore from Rs 2,33,952 crore last year. The growth in retail advances was 14 per cent higher than a year-on-year growth of 10.3 per cent in the preceding quarter ended June.

Savings account deposits grew 15 per cent to Rs 80,618 crore. The bank reported current account deposits of Rs 33,800 crore on September 30. As a result, its CASA ratio stood at a strong 41 per cent on that date.

The asset quality at the lender was also stable with absolute gross non-performing assets (NPAs) standing at Rs 10,036.37 crore against Rs 10,021.25 crore last year. ICICI Bank's net NPAs stood at Rs 2,138 crore against Rs 1,941 crore in the preceding quarter and Rs 2,236 crore in the same period last year.

At a conference call, managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar said the bank had classified Rs 500 crore lent to a media company as an NPA. Although she did not disclose the name of the firm, it is believed to be Deccan Chronicle Holdings.

Net profit on a consolidated basis rose 20 per cent to Rs 2,390 crore from Rs 1,992 crore last year. Among its subsidiaries, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company reported higher profits of Rs 396 crore (Rs 350 crore).

Source : in.news.yahoo.com