Axis Bank shares bounce back; jump over 6% at close of trade

Shares of Axis Bank on Thursday erased all its early losses and closed with a gain of over 6 per cent as non-performing assets eased in the December quarter.

Defying a weak opening where the stock dipped 2.35 per cent to Rs 617 on the BSE, shares of Axis Bank bounced back and closed at Rs 670.85, a jump of 6.16 per cent. During the day, it zoomed 6.72 per cent to Rs 674.40.

On the NSE, it opened lower and declined 2.54 per cent to Rs 616. In a similar trend, it bounced back as the trade progressed and closed at Rs 667.10, a gain of 5.54 per cent.

In traded volume terms, 22.15 lakh shares were traded at the BSE and over 6.43 crore units at the NSE during the day.

Private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday reported a 36.4 per cent decline in standalone net profit to Rs 1,116.60 crore for the third quarter ended December.

The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 1,757 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Total income during the quarter under review slipped to Rs 19,274.39 crore as against Rs 19,494.87 crore in the year-ago period, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

"Reported profits after tax for the quarter are adversely impacted to the extent of Rs 1,050 crores on account of prudent expenses and provisioning charges during the quarter," it said.

However, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) eased to 3.44 per cent of the gross advances, from 5 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs also improved to 0.74 per cent of the net advances as on December from 2.09 per cent by the end of December 2019.