In line with Street expectations, India's second-largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Friday announced a 30% year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs. 1,560 crore during the July-September quarter compared to Rs. 1,199 crore in the year-ago period, riding on the back of strong loan growth.
"Overall loan growth during the quarter was 23% and it was driven by retail loans," said Paresh Sukthankar, executive director, HDFC Bank.
Net interest income (the difference between interest earned and interest paid) during the second quarter grew by 27% to Rs. 3,732 crore.
Net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability for banks, stood at 4.2% during the quarter compared with 4.3% during the April-June quarter. The private sector bank aims to keep this figure in a range of 3.9-4.2% in the near-term.
On the issue of launching festive offer having lower rates, he said the bank would respond to market competition but did not elaborate further.