HDFC Bank shares fall over 2% after Q4 numbers miss D-St estimates

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd, India's largest private lender, fell 2.13 per cent to trade at ₹1,656.45 apiece in Monday's opening deals as the bank reported a 19.8 per cent jump in net profit for the January-March quarter, aided by healthy net interest income and robust loan growth.

Standalone net profit for the three months ended 31 March, 2023 was at ₹12,048 crore, up from ₹10,055 crore in the same quarter a year earlier. L

The net profit however missed street estimates. Analysts had forecast a profit of ₹13,212 crore, according to Refinitiv data.

As a result, ICICI Securities said the operating profit stood at ₹186.2 billion, up 13.8 per cent YoY and down 2.1 per cent QoQ, but lower than the brokerage's estimate of over ₹195 billion. "Lowest credit cost in 6 years at 67 bps largely aided the bank post in-line PAT despite lower-than-expected operating profit. GNPA fell further to a 23-quarter low at 1.12 per cent," the note stated.