lending major Axis Bank on Thursday reported its first net loss since 1998 due to a rise in NPA provisioning.
According to the lender, its net loss stood at Rs 2,189 crore during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017-18 from a net profit of Rs 1,225 crore reported for the corresponding period of last fiscal.
"One area where we have been disappointed with our performance has been credit risk. We made some significant bets on the infrastructure sector, which have turned out poorly in this credit cycle," Axis Bank's Managing Director and CEO Shikha Sharma said.
"Consequently, our NPA ratios have risen materially over the last two years. We have been course correcting since as early as 2013, balancing our portfolio mix, strengthening risk management frameworks, focusing on higher rated corporates, and re-orienting the corporate lending business towards working capital loans."