The lender’s net interest income (NII) came in at ₹33,281.5 crore for the fourth quarter compared to the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹33,738 crore. It was 3.8% more than the previous year’s ₹32,066 crore.
HDFC Bank’s asset quality improved in the fourth quarter. Its net non-performing assets (NPA) contracted to 0.38% from 0.42% in the previous quarter. Its net NPA was at ₹11,169.5 crore compared to ₹11,981.8 crore in the previous quarter.Its gross NPA declined to 1.15% from 1.24% sequentially. It fell to ₹34,061.2 crore in the fourth quarter from ₹35,179 crore in the previous quarter.
The lender’s provisions were at ₹2,609.6 crore compared to ₹2,837.9 crore in the previous quarter and ₹3,193 crore in the year-ago period.
HDFC Bank’s board has also recommended a final dividend of ₹13 per share.MD & CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan addressed the lender’s earnings call for the first time, saying, “Our tech investments have more than quadrupled to over a billion dollars,” while adding that the bank continues to acquire “6–8 million customers per annum.” He said the bank remains a market leader across core segments, particularly in capital markets, and highlighted its scale in cards: “35–36% of credit cards are acquired on our terminal… we have 22% of credit card issuances market, 26–28% of credit card spends as well.” He also noted that the bank has “dominant relationships in corp” and is “among top 2 mortgage and MSME banks in the country.”
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Jagdishan said his presence on the concall was “in light of the current circumstances and at the request of various stakeholders,” adding that it “will not be a regular feature.” On governance, he told CNBC-TV18 the bank “has not yet made a recommendation to RBI on Chairman; we are rooting for Mr. Keki Mistry,” and that more deliberation is needed before sending names. He maintained that the bank’s capital position remains strong with “enough capital buffer to absorb any future shocks,” and added that “funding is no more a binding constraint” and the loan-deposit ratio “is not a constraint at all.”
Sameer Sawant, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said, “HDFC Bank earnings on the bottom line front, it was in line with our expectations, with a marginal beat of about 0.8%. NII was slightly below expectations, but that was partly offset by lower provisions. So overall profitability was largely in line. Asset quality performance was clearly positive. We were expecting around 1.2% GNPA, but it has come down to 1.15%. Also, the fresh slippage ratio has fallen sharply to 0.2% compared to 0.7% in the previous quarter, which is a positive.”
“HDFC Bank had already disclosed the CD ratio number falling in this quarter, so the Street would have largely factored this in. The key will be management commentary on growth for FY27. We have seen both banks – ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, showing stronger growth in retail and MSME segments compared to overall industry growth. So commentary on overall growth and on MSME stress—especially in the unsecured segment—given the impact of macro factors, will be important to watch,” he added.
Shares of HDFC Bank ended the previous session 0.6% up at ₹800 apiece. The stock has declined 5% in the past month and is down 19.3% this year, so far.
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