IDFC First Bank Q4 profit rises 168 per cent to Rs 343 crore

The bank's profit during the quarter was driven by strong growth in core operating income and lower provisioning.

For the whole financial year 2021-22, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 145 crore against Rs 452 crore recorded in 2020-21, registering a decline of 68 per cent year-on-year.

IDFC First Bank said in a statement that the profit during the year 2021-22 declined sharply due to higher provisioning in the first quarter of the fiscal to manage the COVID-19 second wave impact on its assets.

The bank's net interest income grew by 36 per cent on a YoY basis to reach Rs 2,669 crore in the fourth quarter of 2021-22. The net interest income for the financial year 2021-22 grew by 32 per cent YoY to Rs 9,706 crore, up from Rs 7,380 crore recorded in 2020-21.

Net interest margin improved to 6.27 per cent during the quarter under review from 5.17 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

For the whole fiscal 2021-22, the bank's net interest margin improved to 5.96 per cent as compared to 5.03 per cent recorded in the previous year.

Fee and other income increased strongly by 40 per cent YoY to Rs 841 crore in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 from Rs 600 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The increase was 13 per cent on a sequential basis. During FY22, the fee and other income grew by 66 per cent YoY to Rs 2,691 crore from Rs 1,622 crore in FY21.

Commenting on the results, V Vaidyanathan, Managing Director and CEO, IDFC First Bank, said, "We are happy to share that our core operating profit for Q4 FY22 has more than doubled (up 106 per cent) to Rs 836 crore as compared to Rs 405 crore in Q4 FY 21. This shows the power of the business model we are building."

"In the retail business, which is one of the key drivers of growth, NPA continues to reduce since the last 4 quarters. Our retail gross NPA sharply reduced from 4.01 per cent in FY 21 to 2.63 per cent in FY 22, and net NPA reduced from 1.90 per cent in FY 21 to 1.15 per cent in FY 22," Vaidyanathan said.

"Based on internal analysis, we are comfortably on our way to reduce retail GNPA and NNPA to 2 per cent and less than 1 per cent respectively as guided earlier," he added. (ANI)