HDFC Bank's March-quarter loans sequentially up 1.6%, deposits rise 7.5%

BENGALURU/MUMBAI: HDFC Bank said on Thursday its gross loans grew 1.6% sequentially in the January-March period to 25.08 trillion rupees ($300.61 billion), at a rate that was slower than the previous quarter.

The bank's deposits in the March quarter rose 7.5% to 23.8 trillion rupees from the December quarter, according to an exchange disclosure.

Aggregate low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits rose 8.8% sequentially to about 9.09 trillion rupees.

Mumbai-based HDFC Bank merged with its parent Housing Development Finance Corp in July 1, following which the lender has seen its loan-to-deposit ratio rise, prompting analysts to say the bank needs to raise deposit growth or slow its loan growth.

The lender's gross loans rose 4.9% sequentially in the October-December quarter, while deposits had grown by 1.9% during the same period.

HDFC Bank's domestic retail loans in the March quarter rose by about 3.7% sequentially. Its corporate and wholesale loans, excluding non-individual loans of the company before the merger, fell 2.2% sequentially.

Indian banks have seen healthy demand for loans over the past few months, with lenders looking to shore up their deposit base amid tight liquidity conditions in the banking system.

For HDFC Bank, the merger added a large pool of mortgage loans to its portfolio but a much smaller amount of deposits since before the merger the parent was a housing finance company and did not have large customer deposits.

HDFC Bank's shares rose as much as 3% on Thursday to their highest since mid-January. They have fallen about 10% since third-quarter earnings on January 16.

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