India : HDFC Bank Q1 net up 20 pct, bad loans tick up

MUMBAI : HDFC Bank Ltd, India’s second-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a 20 percent rise in quarterly profit on higher interest and fee income, in line with analysts’ estimates, although its bad loans rose.

Net profit was 32.39 billion rupees ($ 482 million) for its fiscal first quarter to June 30, compared with 26.96 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based bank said in a statement on Thursday.

Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 32.52 billion rupees, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 1.04 percent as of June 30, from 0.94 percent as of end-March.