Mumbai, April 25 (Inditop) ICICI Bank, India’s largest in the private sector, has reported a 9.6 percent drop in net profit after tax at Rs.3,758 crore ($741 million) for the year ended March 31, against Rs.4,158 crore ($820 million) for the year before.
The bank’s board of directors, which met here Saturday to consider the audited accounts for financial year 2008-09, has recommended a dividend of Rs.11 per share, which is the same as previous year, a regulatory filing with stock markets said.
ICICI Bank, however, reported a higher net interest income of Rs.8,367 crore ($1,650 million) for the year under review, up 15 percent over Rs.7,304 crore ($1,440 million) earned during the previous year.
“While the advances declined marginally year-on-year, the net interest income increased due to improvement in net interest margin from 2.2 percent in 2007-08 to 2.4 percent in 2008-09,” the bank’s statement added.
Among the other items of strong showing were the 12 percent increase in operating profit and 14 percent reduction in costs due to rationalisation of expenditure. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio was also strong at 15.5 percent.
