Private sector HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a rise of 20.6 per cent in its net profit to Rs 5,005.73 crore for the second quarter ended on September this fiscal, as the core income grew at a healthy pace.

The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 4,151.03 crore in the July-September quarter of 2017-18.

Total income for the quarter grew by 21.2 per cent to Rs 28,215.2 crore as against Rs 23,276.2 crore, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The net interest income (interest earned minus interest expended) for the quarter grew by 20.6 per cent to Rs 11,763.4 crore, driven by average asset growth of 22.9 per cent and a net interest margin of 4.3 per cent, it said.

The net interest income stood at Rs 9,752.1 crore in September quarter of 2017-18.

On asset front, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank rose slightly to 1.33 per cent of the gross advances as on September 30, 2018 from 1.26 per cent on September 30, 2017.

In value terms, the gross NPAs of the bank stood at Rs 10,097.73 crore by end of September quarter, compared to Rs 7,702.84 crore.

The net NPAs or bad loans, however, fell to 0.40 per cent of the net loans by end of second quarter against 0.43 per cent. The absolute value of net NPAs was at Rs 3,028.24 crore as against Rs 2,596.83 crore.

The provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 were Rs 1,820 crore as against Rs 1,476.20 crore as on September 30, 2017.

The lender said it made preferential allotment of more than 3.90 crore equity shares  to its parent Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd) at a price of Rs 2,174.09 crore on July 17 aggregating to Rs 8,500 crore.

On August 2, the bank concluded a qualified institutional placement (QIP) of over 1.28 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 2,160 aggregating to Rs 2,775 crore and an ADR offering of 17.5 million, representing 5.25 crore equity shares aggregating to $1.82 billion (equivalent to Rs 12,440.90 crore).