RBL Bank reported on April 29 that its standalone net profit in the March quarter rose 37% year-on-year to Rs 271 crore. The private lender’s net interest income (NII) rose 7% year-on-year to Rs 1,211 crore.

While RBL Bank beat Street’s estimated Rs 222 crore in net profit, NII came in just short of the Rs 1,219.6 crore estimate.

“We finished Q4 and FY23 on strong momentum with the highest quarterly and annual profit. New initiatives in FY23 for launching new safety products and scaling up granular retail offerings are also starting to bear fruit,” said RBL Bank R Subramaniakumar, MD and CEO.

The bank’s asset quality has further improved, with the total non-performing asset ratio falling to 3.37% from 3.61% in the previous quarter and 4.40% in the same period last year.

The net NPA ratio decreased to 1.10%, compared to 1.18% and 1.34% in the same period last year. Net interest margin was 5.01%, compared to 4.74% in the third quarter.

“We expect growth to become more broad-based. Our asset quality parameters have further improved, and our capital position continues to be healthy, providing us with a runway to accelerate sustainable, profitable growth,” he added.

During the quarter, the bank’s net advances rose 17% year-on-year to Rs 70,209 crore. Total deposits increased by 7% to Rs 84,887 crore. Meanwhile, provisions fell 41.5% year-on-year to Rs 234.7 crore.

The lender said in a release that the total number of customers grew to 12.9 million, up 16% from the previous financial year.