Post-merger HDFC Bank earnings beat estimates

But bank reports higher bad loan ratio on impact of merger with parent

- Gopika Gopakumar

HDFC Bank Ltd on Monday reported a 51% jump in profit in the September quarter, beating analysts’ estimates, on higher other income and lower provisions.

This is India’s largest private lender’s first quarterly earnings after its $40-billion mega-merger with parent Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd came into effect on 1 July. Therefore, direct comparisons with the year-earlier figures may offer a misleading picture.

The bank saw net profit rise to ₹15,976 crore in the quarter ended 30 September from ₹10,605 crore in the year-ago period. That exceeded analysts’ estimates of ₹14,120 crore in a Bloomberg survey.

As forecast by the management in a call with investors in September, the bank saw its net interest margin (NIM) narrow to 3.6% at the end of September from 4.1% in the preceding quarter.

However, the management did not say when the bank expects to achieve 3.7-3.8% pro-forma merged NIM.