Axis Bank Shares Decline Over 2% In Early Trade; Bounces Back Later

Shares of Axis Bank on Thursday declined over 2 per cent in early trade after the company reported a 29 per cent decline in December quarter consolidated net.

The stock opened on a weak note and further dipped 2.35 per cent to Rs 617 on the BSE. But it soon bounced back wiping out the early losses and was trading in the green at Rs 643.05, registering a gain of 1.76 per cent.

At the NSE also, it opened lower and declined 2.54 per cent to Rs 616. In a similar trend, it bounced back as the trade progressed to quote at Rs 641.20, up 1.44 per cent.

The country's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday reported a 29 per cent decline in December quarter consolidated net at Rs 1,334 crore, and reported a spike in non-performing assets from the retail assets side.

In the 2019 December quarter, consolidated net profit was at Rs 1,884 crore.

On a standalone basis, the city-based bank's net profit for the October-December period declined 36 per cent to Rs 1,116 crore from Rs 1,757 crore in the same period a year ago.

It reported fresh slippages of Rs 6,736 crore under the IRAC norms, as against Rs 6,214 crore in the year-ago period.

The same had come down to Rs 1,572 crore in the preceding September quarter.

A bulk 83 per cent of the fresh slippages came from retail assets, which had become a focus area for lenders across the system in the last few years because of its perceived resilience in face of stress being reported by the corporate segment.