HDFC Bank Q4 net profit jumps 18% on-yr; board decides against declaring dividend in Mar 2021 amid COVID surge

HDFC Bank reported an 18.2 per cent on-year jump in standalone net profit to Rs 8,186.51 crore for the January-March quarter of FY21. The company had posted a profit of Rs 6,927.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Amid the second COVID-19 wave, the company informed that its board has considered it prudent to currently not propose a dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2021. India’s largest private sector lender’s Net Interest Income (NII), the difference between interest earned through lending and interest paid to depositors, witnessed a 12.6 per cent on-year rise to Rs 17,120 crore in the quarter under review, as compared to Rs 15,204 crore in the same period last year.

The Bank’s net revenues (net interest income plus other income) rose to Rs 24,713 crore in the fourth quarter of FY21 from Rs 21,236 crore in the previous year.

HDFC Bank Q4 results:

• HDFC Bank maintained a healthy liquidity coverage ratio at 138 per cent, which was well above the regulatory requirements.
• Operating expenses in the January-March 2021 quarter, stood at Rs 9,181.3 crore, a jump of 10.9 per cent over Rs 8,277.8 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
• The cost-to-income ratio for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, was at 37.2 per cent as compared to 39 per cent in the year-ago period.
• Other income (non-interest revenue) came in at Rs 7,593.9 crore, which was 30.7 per cent of net revenues in the fourth quarter of FY21 and grew by 25.9 per cent over Rs 6,032.6 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
• Total deposits of the HDFC Bank stood at Rs 13 lakh crore, a rise of 16.3 per cent over March 31, 2020. CASA deposits increased by 27 per cent with savings account deposits at Rs 4.03 lakh crore and current account deposits at Rs 2.12 lakh crore.
• HDFC Bank’s total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as per Basel III guidelines stood at 18.8 per cent in the March quarter of 2021 (against 18.5 per cent as on March 31, 2020), as against a regulatory requirement of 11.075 per cent.
• Gros non-performing assets were at 1.32 per cent of gross advances as on March 31, 2021, as against 1.38 per cent as on December 31, 2020, and 1.26 as on March 31, 2020.
• HDFC Bank’s distribution network was at 5,608 branches and 16,087 ATMs/ cash deposit and withdrawal machines (CDMs) across 2,902 cities or towns.