Axis Bank share fell over 2% ahead of the lender's Q4 earnings to be announced today. Share of Axis Bank lost 2.28% to Rs 684.25 against previous close of Rs 700 on BSE. The stock has fallen after 4 days of consecutive gain. The share trades higher than 5 day, 20 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than 50 day moving averages.
The stock has gained 64% in one year and risen 13% since the beginning of this year. Market cap of the firm stood at Rs 2.14 lakh crore.
Edelweiss Securities in a note said it expects Q4 profit to come at Rs 1,722.8 crore.
"Loan momentum will be tepid as demand remains weak and lenders are risk averse. Retail deposits growth, however, will likely be steady but traction on corporate deposits needs to be monitored," opined the brokerage. Profits, pegged at Rs 1,722.8 crore, will be supported by limited Covid-19 provisioning in the quarter," the brokerage said.
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Analysts at Motilal Oswal expect profit after tax to come at Rs 1,630 crore on the back of an 8 per cent YoY rise in the operating profit of Rs 6,320 crore. Operating profit came at Rs 5,851.1 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, and Rs 6,095.5 crore in the December quarter of the current fiscal.
"We believe Axis Bank's credit cost may remain high on a yearly basis but may moderate QoQ. Besides, slippages will remain a key monitorable given the rising Covid-19 cases. Resultant restructuring/BB & below rated asset pool will also remain under watch," the financial services firm said.
In Q3 of last fiscal, Axis Bank reported a 36.4 per cent decline in standalone net profit to Rs 1,116.60 crore against net profit of Rs 1,757 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Total income in Q3 slipped to Rs 19,274.39 crore against Rs 19,494.87 crore in the year-ago period. "Reported profits after tax for the quarter are adversely impacted to the extent of Rs 1,050 crores on account of prudent expenses and provisioning charges during the quarter," it said.
Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) eased to 3.44 per cent of the gross advances, from 5 per cent a year ago.
Net NPAs also improved to 0.74 per cent of the net advances as on December 31, 2020, from 2.09 per cent by the end of December 2019.
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