Axis Bank reports Rs 5,728 crore loss in Q4; dividend of Rs 1 per share announced

New Delhi: Private sector lender Axis Bank on Thursday reported a net loss of Rs 5,728 crore for the March 2023 quarter on account of the acquisition of the retail consumer business of CitiIndia.

The bank earned a net profit of Rs 4,118 crore on a standalone basis in the same quarter the previous year.

During the quarter, the bank's total income increased to Rs 28,865 crore from Rs 22,000 crore a year ago, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Interest income grew to Rs 23,970 crore during the period under review against Rs 17,776 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The bank's board has recommended a dividend of Rs 1 per share or 50 per cent of Rs 2 face value for the year ended March 31, 2023.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were reduced to 2.02 per cent of gross advances as of March 31, 2023, from 2.82 per cent by the end of March 2022.

Net NPAs also came down to 0.39 per cent of the advances from 0.73 per cent at the end of 2022.

The fall in the bad loans ratio helped cut the provisions and contingencies for Q4FY23 to Rs 306 crore as compared to Rs 987 crore a year ago.

Axis Bank on March 1 announced the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business and non-banking financial company (NBFC) consumer business.

The bank paid Rs 11,603 crore for the acquisition announced last year in March. The sale excludes Citi’s institutional client businesses in India.

Axis Bank is the fourth-largest issuer of credit cards with a total base of 8.6 million cards, and the deal will add about 2.5 million credit cardholders, making it one of the top three card businesses in the country.