NEW DELHI: Private lender sector Axis Bank expects collections to slow down in the coming weeks as the second wave of Covid-19 sweeps the country, impacting movement of executives on the ground.While corporates are likely to adopt a wait and watch approach, the focus will be on employee safety given the sudden surge, its chief executive Amitabh Chaudhry said on Tuesday while addressing the media after the bank reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of FY21.
The lender reported a net profit of Rs 2,677 crore in the quarter ended March 2021 as it returned to profit for this quarter. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 1,388 crore in year-ago period. It has also seen an improvement on the asset quality front. The gross non-performing assets (GNPAs), as a percentage of gross advances, increased to 3.7 per cent as of March 2021, from 3.44 percent as of December 2020. Net NPA also rose to 1.05 per cent from 0.75 percent in the same period.
Chaudhary added that the bank will look for growth opportunities in both secured and unsecured book and is confident of its provisioning buffer. “We would like to grow in our focus segments as we did in FY21. Our balance sheet is strong, we have taken provisions upfront and have more than decent buffers built in.
We will be conservative on one side but also bold on the other,” he added. Axis Bank has received Rs 3,004 crore worth loan recast requests under the Covid-19 resolution framework of which Rs 623 crore is implemented so far, excluding MSME loans.