AXIS BANK Q1 FY09-A QUICK REVIEW - by Narasimhan
AXIS bank formerly called as UTI bank is one of the leading bankers in India. It has wide network with nearly 713 branches and more than 2900 ATM centers across 433 cities. The company in the last quarter additionally launched 42 branches and 140 ATMs. It has applied RBI for opening 200 branches to expand its network. Last week, it announced its first quarter results. The figures are good when compared to the last quarter. Its Q1 FY09 financial results are tabulated below
| Rs Millions | Jun ' 08 | Mar ' 08 | Dec ' 07 | Sep ' 07 | Jun ' 07 |
| Sales | 22,664 | 20,154 | 18,023 | 16,765 | 15,370 |
| Operating profit | 13,368 | 11,892 | 10,393 | 10,533 | 10,149 |
| Interest | 14,560 | 11,870 | 10,550 | 10,878 | 10,901 |
| Gross profit | 8,023 | 7,228 | 6,723 | 4,629 | 3,679 |
| Provisions made | 2967.3 | 1642.2 | 2000.5 | 1144.6 | 1009.1 |
| Net profit / loss | 3,301 | 3,614 | 3,068 | 2,278 | 1,750 |
| Equity capital | 3,586 | 3,577 | 3,574 | 3,565 | 2,827 |
| EPS (Rs) | 9.21 | 10.1 | 8.59 | 6.39 | 6.19 |
| OPM (%) | 58.98% | 59.00% | 57.67% | 62.83% | 66.03% |
| GPM (%) | 35.40% | 35.87% | 37.30% | 27.61% | 23.94% |
| NPM (%) | 14.57% | 17.93% | 17.02% | 13.59% | 11.38% |
The company operates in four segments, Treasury, Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, and other banking business. Despite raise in the depreciation the bank is able to post good net profit figures. On YoY basis the net profit surged by 89% and stood at Rs.3301 Million. But when compared to the final quarter of last fiscal the Net profit dipped by 9%.The bank is pressurized to raise the depreciation provisions for its investment portfolio as in the last quarter the markets were in a downward trend. The provisions were largely made on the Corporate and equity bonds, where the gilt edged securities are in the maturity corner. The Net interest income was at Rs.8105.6 Million, an increase of 93%, when compared to Rs.4.2 Billion proceeded in the same period last year. This is achieved because of the net increase in the advances. Despite the CRR was hiked .25 % by RBI the advances figures jumped 48% to Rs.611.6 Billion as against the last year’s advances amounting Rs.41.3 Billion. The corporate advances slowed down in the last quarter due to the increase in the interest rates. The Net interest margin (NIM) increased to 3.35% from NIM of 2.56% remained in the corresponding quarter previous year. But NIM declined when compared to the last Quarter’s NIM of 3.95% due to the diminishing of the demand deposits in the last quarter. Savings and Current Account rose to 40% in this quarter from 38% posted in the Q1 of last year. Overall deposits segment saw a growth of 46% compared to the last year’s performance but lowered when compared to the last quarter’s performance. The company issued additionally about 34 lakhs international debit cards in this quarter.
STOCK OUTLOOK
The stock is now trading in the level of Rs.660-690. Announcement of Results didn’t make a great impact in the movement of the stock. It is evident from the above chart that the stock is now in a down track after hitting Rs.1250 level in the month of January. It has a strong support level at Rs.950 where it was traded in the month of May. It has a near term resistance level at Rs. 550. Near term investor can make profitable buys here. Till India comes out of rising inflation it is not possible for a long term investor to buy bank stocks.