BENGALURU, July 24 (Reuters) - Indian private lender Axis Bank reported a first-quarter profit on Wednesday that missed analyst estimates, as higher provisions weighed.
The Mumbai-based lender's standalone net profit - which excludes its subsidiaries - rose 4% year-on-year to 60.35 billion rupees ($721.2 million) for the quarter ended June 30.
Analysts had estimated a profit of 64.50 billion rupees, as per LSEG data.
Provisions and contingencies, or funds kept aside for potential bad loans, rose 97% to 20.39 billion rupees.
Lenders typically choose to set aside more funds to cover for potential bad loans and against any unforeseen events.
Axis Bank's net interest income - the difference between interest earned and paid - rose about 13% to 134.48 billion rupees, as per Reuters' calculations.
Its non-performing assets ratio, a key gauge of lenders' asset quality, rose to 1.54% at the end of June from 1.43% three months earlier, indicating that asset quality deteriorated.
($1 = 83.6810 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
Source: Reuters