MIXED RESULTS ICICI net up 36% but PSUs hit by slowdown

Mumbai: ICICI Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 1,815 crore for the quarter ended June 2012 — an increase of 36% over the Rs 1,332-crore profit reported in the corresponding quarter last year following wider interest margins and lower provisions for bad loans.      The bank announced its results on the same day as five other nationalized banks announced their quarterly performance. ICICI Bank, which abandoned its quest for market leadership in retail after the crisis and also focused on loans to top-rated borrowers, has managed to maintain loan quality even as public sector banks reported deterioration in their loan book.      Analysts said that there has been a sharp contrast in the performance of private and public sector banks.      "Among banks, we are seeing divergent performance on asset quality. While public sector banks are reporting significant stress on asset quality, delinquencies in private sector banks are still healthy," said Gautam Trivedi, MD & head of equities, Religare Capital Markets.      Vaibhav Agarwal, banking analyst at Angel Broking, said, "We had been building in higher provisioning expenses towards NPAs (non-performing assets), in line with ICICI Bank management's own assessment that their NPAs too could increase marginally due to the weak environment. But, for another quarter, the bank has managed to broadly hold on to good asset quality."      As a result of the divergent performance of private and public sector banks, the BSE Bankex closed almost flat.      Delhi-based Punjab National Bank reported a 12.7% rise in net profit at Rs 1,246 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal due to growth in interest income.      The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,105 crore during the April-June quarter of the previous fiscal. Interest income during the quarter registered a healthy growth of 26.8% at Rs 10,545 crore against Rs 8,315 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.      Bank of India reported a net profit of Rs 887.5 crore — an increase of 71.5% from Rs 517.5 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The bank's net interest income increased from Rs 1,841 crore to Rs 2,043.6 crore following an improvement in its net interest margin from 2.19% to 2.27%.Union Bank of India saw its net profit rise 10.34% to Rs 512 crore from Rs 464 crore in the first quarter last year. Meanwhile, a 23% surge in advances helped Central Bank of India record a net profit of Rs 336 crore as on June 30, 2012, 20% higher than the Rs 281 crore reported in the year-ago period. Dena Bank saw its net profit increase by 41.97% to Rs 238.63 crore following a 37.1% increase in its net interest income.