Axis Bank Q2 net seen rising 21% at Rs 1115 crore

Private sector lender Axis Bank is likely to report 21 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 1,115 crore in the quarter ending September 2012. Net interest income is expected to rise nearly 15 per cent at Rs 2,304 crore.

India's number three private lender had reported Rs 920 crore in profit and Rs 2,007 crore in NII in the corresponding quarter last year.

Fee based income is seen growing around 10 per cent year-on-year. Loan growth is expected to remain strong around 25-26 per cent on an annual basis.

Axis Bank may report a 15-20 basis points rise in margins over the June quarter on the back of lower wholesale funding cost. The bank had reported a net interest margin of 3.37 per cent in the June quarter.

Analysts would be closely tracking the asset quality and restructured loans. Axis Bank may classify the loans extended to Deccan Chronicle as non-performing assets. Axis Bank has an exposure of nearly Rs 400 crore to the debt-ridden media firm.

Gross NPAs are seen around Rs 2,450 crore, a 17 per cent sequential jump from Rs 2,092 crore in the June quarter. Axis Bank is likely to report Rs 700-800 crore in slippages and may restructure loans worth Rs 700 crore.

Shares in the lender traded flat at Rs 1,119 on the BSE. In contrast, the broader BSE banking index was down 0.6 per cent.