Kotak Mahindra Bank Q4 net up 29% to Rs 527 cr

Gross NPAs stood at 1.85% against 1.98%

Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 29.46 per cent increase in standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015, at Rs 527.14 crore as against Rs 407.18 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

Net interest income for the bank grew 16.2 per cent in the fourth quarter to Rs 1,123.17 crore as against Rs 966.54 crore in the comparable period.

The bank, during the board meeting, also approved issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one equity share for every one equity share held, subject to approval of the shareholders at the annual general meeting. 

This is the first time in nearly ten years that Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced a bonus issue.

“We wanted to give the bonus as a welcome signal to all the erstwhile shareholders of ING Vysya Bank. The bonus announcement is also due to the good performance of the bank as well as completion of 30 years of the bank,” Kotak Mahindra Bank executive chairman and managing director Uday Kotak said.

Gross non performing assets (NPAs) for the quarter declined to 1.85 per cent as against 1.98 per cent in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal while net NPAs declined to 0.92 per cent as against 1.08 per cent in the comparable quarter. Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank ended up over 6.5 per cent on BSE at Rs 1,423.65 with volumes of 4.13 lakh shares.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, which is famous for offering six per cent interest rates for savings bank accounts over Rs 1 lakh, has no plans to reduce it in the short term.
“We have no plans to reduce the six per cent savings rate in the forseeable future. Even if it is costing more, we want to build customers. According to us, all should get the benefit of six per cent including ING Vysya Bank account holders," Kotak said.

The bank has raised Rs 1,000 crore in long-term bond against infrastructure and affordable housing book in FY15.