HDFC Bank posts Q2 net profit of 159.76b rupees

MUMBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters): HDFC Bank, India's largest private lender, posted a standalone net profit of 159.76 billion Indian rupees ($1.92 billion) for the July-September quarter, it said on Monday.

The standalone numbers do not include the business of the bank's subsidiaries.

The results mark the first quarterly earnings report following the merger of HDFC Bank with parent Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) on July 1 in a $40 billion deal, and the company did not give the comparable year-ago quarter numbers.

Net interest income, or core lending income, stood at 273.85 billion rupees.

The gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio rose to 1.34 per cent. The bank's gross NPA ratio was 1.17 per cent in the fiscal first quarter prior to the merger.

The gross NPA ratio was lower than the 1.41 per cent for the combined entity on a pro forma basis at the end of the June quarter, the bank said.

Net bad loans, after provisions by the bank, rose 5 basis points to 0.35 per cent.

The bank saw a sharp drop in its net interest margin to 3.4 per cent on all assets and 3.6 per cent on interest-earning assets.