Private sector lender HDFC Bank registered a 27.1 per cent increase in net profit at Rs1,982 crore for the period ending September 30, even as it was for the first time in a decade that its earnings growth fell below 30 per cent.
The bank’s profit in the second quarter of the current fiscal was spurred by a healthy jump in its core income.
The bank chose not to amortise net depreciation on available-for-sale (AFS) and held-to-maturity (HTM) bonds over three quarters and took a one-time hit, which dragged profit down by Rs 76.61 crore, according to a statement issued by the bank.
“We have not had any fixation of a particular number. The actual number rolls out,” HDFC Executive Director Paresh Sukthankar said in Mumbai.
The Reserve Bank of India had given banks the one-time flexibility after its unconventional liquidity tightening measures of July jacked up bond yields.
The RBI had also allowed banks to transfer securities from the AFS/held-for-trade category to HTM, and accordingly, HDFC Bank transfered Rs1,932 crore of government bonds from AFS to HTM, thereby protecting its profit by Rs25.51 crore, the bank said in a note.