HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private lender, on Saturday announced a 6.7% year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 17, 616 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, helped by a healthy growth in interest income. The lender’s bottomline beat expectations as the analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated the bank to post Rs 17,021 crore net profit in the quarter.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 10.3 % to Rs 32,066 crore in the fourth quarter of FY2025 from Rs 29,080 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The bank’s board has declared a final dividend of Rs 22 per share for FY2025.
“As liquidity, economic activity improves, we are well placed to grow loans, deposits,” said Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, chief financial officer, HDFC Bank, in a post earnings call.
The net interest margin of the lender expanded to 3.5% in the fourth quarter from 3.4% in the third quarter.
The bank’s gross advances rose 5.4% on the year to Rs 26.43 lakh crore. Retail loans of the bank grew 9% on the year, and commercial and rural rose by nearly 13%. Corporate and other wholesale loans fell by 4%. Overseas advances contributed nearly 2% to overall advances.
The average deposits of banks reached Rs 25.28 lakh crore for the March 2025 quarter, registering a growth of 15.8% over Rs 21.83 lakh crore from March 2024 quarter.
The bank is looking to lower its credit-deposit (CD) ratio to its pre-merger levels in the next financial year. “The bank aims to achieve a credit-to-deposit ratio similar to the pre-merger level of 85-90% by fiscal 2026-27,” said Vaidyanathan. He added that loan growth is expected to remain at a similar pace as seen over the past two–three years.
The bank’s average current account savings account (CASA) deposits reached Rs 8.28 lakh crore for the March 2025 quarter, registering a growth of 5.7% over Rs 7.8 lakh crore for the March 2024 quarter. Other income for the quarter ended March 31 was Rs 12,030 crore.
The bank witnessed improvement in its asset quality as its gross non-performing assets ratio rose to 1.33% as of March-end, from 1.42% as of December-end, while net NPA came down at 0.43% from 0.46% in the previous quarter. In absolute terms, gross NPAs fell to Rs 35,222.64 crore as of March 31, compared to Rs 36,018.58 crore as on December 31, 2024. However, asset quality deteriorated on a year-on-year basis, as the gross NPA ratio stood at 1.24% as of March 2024. Provisions and contingencies dropped 76% to Rs 3,193 crore in the fourth quarter.