Kotak Mahindra Bank’s well-earned reputation for making the most of even the most challenging of economic environments was fully on display over the last 12 months.
The private lending firm that Uday Kotak founded in 1985 closed out the fiscal year (to the end of March) beating all estimates with a 26% jump in net profit for the January to March quarter, thanks to strong net interest income and heady loan growth.
Net interest income alone surged 35% to Rs61 billion ($739 million) from Rs45.2 billion a year earlier. Kotak’s net interest margin grew to 5.75% in the January to March period, from 4.78% a year earlier. The bank’s loan book jumped almost 18% year on year; deposits increased 16.4%.
Asset quality improved, too. Kotak’s gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 1.78% by the end of March, versus 1.9% quarter-on-quarter at the end of December. Its net non-performing loan ratio was 0.37%, compared with 0.43% three months earlier.
But where Kotak really excelled was in its ability to deliver on a wide variety of client mandates. In the fiscal year ending in March, the team led by KVS Manian, president for corporate, institutional and investment banking, closed 45 deals.
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