India's Axis Bank Q2 profit beats view on robust loan growth

BENGALURU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Indias Axis Bank (AXBK.NS) reported a better-than-expected profit rise for the second-quarter on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in loans.

The Mumbai-based private lenders standalone net profit climbed 10% to 58.64 billion rupees ($705.20 million) in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier, it said in an exchange filing.

Analysts had expected a profit of 56.76 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

The standalone numbers do not include the business of the banks subsidiaries.

Loan demand during the September quarter stayed strong as an uptick in consumer spending helped drive retail credit. The upcoming festive season is expected to further boost spending.

Net interest income - the difference between interest earned and interest expended - rose 19% to 123.15 billion rupees in the quarter, from 103.6 billion rupees a year ago.

Net interest margin, a barometer of the banks profitability, increased to 4.11% in the September quarter, up 15 basis points from a year ago, and up 1 basis point from the earlier quarter.

Indian banks have experienced margin pressure in the last two quarters as deposits were re-priced with a lag following the 250-basis-point rise in the policy interest rates since May 2022.

($1 = 83.1533 Indian rupees)