India’s ICICI Bank’s profit misses estimate on a one-time tax impact

Mumbai: ICICI Bank Ltd, India’s second-largest private lender, posted a lower than expected profit due to a one-time income tax adjustment.

Net income fell 28 per cent to Rs6.55 billion (Dh340 billion, $98 million) for the three months ended September 30 from Rs9.1 billion a year earlier, the lender said on Saturday. The profit compared with analysts expectation of Rs13.8 billion on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The Mumbai-based lender, with a large mortgage and consumer loan book, has been relatively less hit by an ongoing shadow banking crisis compared to some of its peers who have higher exposure to this default-ridden sector. On Friday, State Bank of India’s shares jumped the most in a month after the bank reported a narrowing bad loan ratio.

ICICI Bank set aside Rs37.1 billion toward tax expenses for the quarter ended September, sharply above Rs3.47 billion a year ago. The so-called core operating profit — that excludes provisions, tax and treasury income — grew 24 per cent from the previous year to Rs65.3 billion, the bank said.

ICICI Bank’s gross bad-loan ratio stood at 6.37 per cent compared with 6.49 per cent at June-end while provisions and contingencies fell to Rs25 billion from Rs35 billion the preceding quarter. Shares of the bank had that gained 3.2 per cent to Rs469.1 on Friday, extending this years gains to 30 per cent.