After opening the day on a positive note, share markets in India have continued the momentum and are trading near their record high levels. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note, with stocks in the auto sector and the FMCG sector witnessing maximum buying interest. Stocks in the IT and the telecom sector are trading in the red.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 155 points (up 0.5%), and the NSE Nifty is trading up by 43 points (up 0.5%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.2%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.1%. The rupee is trading at 64.07 to the US$.
In news from stocks in the banking sector, India’s newest full commercial lender, IDFC Bank’s share price soared by as much as 6% in intra-day trade today after the bank reported better than expected numbers in its fourth quarter results.
IDFC bank posted a net profit growth of 7% at Rs 1760 million for the fourth quarter ended March. The corresponding figure in the previous fiscal stood at Rs 1651 million. Income during the quarter grew by a marginal 1% to Rs 5584 million, as against Rs 5,545 million.
For the whole of 2016-17, profit came in at Rs 10.2 billion, marking completion of the bank’s first full year of operations.
Operating income stood at Rs 30.3 billion for the fiscal ended March 2017. The bank had started off in October 2015. So, the year-on-year comparable figure has been annualised.
On asset quality, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans and net NPAs at the end of March 2017 were Rs 15.4 billion and Rs 5.8 billion, respectively. Gross NPAs as a percentage of gross advances stood at 3% and net bad loans as a percentage of net advances 1.1%.
Gross non-performing assets during the January-March period declined 57% sequentially to Rs 15.4 billion as against Rs 35.9 billion during the previous quarter. In percentage terms, the asset quality improved to 2.9% for the fourth quarter compared to 7% during the October-December period.
