India's ICICI Bank posts 30% jump in Q4 net profit

MUMBAI (Reuters) -India's ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 30% increase in fourth-quarter net profit helped by improved net interest income and growth in loans.

Standalone net profit rose to a record 91.22 billion Indian rupees ($1.11 billion) from 70.19 billion a year earlier.

That topped the 90.41 billion forecast by analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 40.2% to 176.67 billion rupees while the private lender's net interest margin widened to 4.90% from 4%.

Its total advances grew by 18.7% largely led by retail loans while deposits grew 10.9%.

Loan demand growth in India has stayed in double-digits in recent months while lenders have looked to shore up their deposit base amid tightened liquidity conditions.

"At this point in time, we are very comfortable with our deposit growth," Executive Director Sandeep Batra told reporters on a conference call.

"I do not think deposit growth will be a constraint to our ability to grow our assets in a risk-calibrated manner."

ICICI Bank's asset quality improved, with its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio falling to 2.81% from 3.60% a year earlier.

It booked provisions and contingencies of 16.2 billion rupees, up from 10.69 billion from a year ago.

Batra described the increased provisions as "prudent" given the overall macro level uncertainty while adding the bank is not seeing any stress in its balance sheet.

The bank's board on Saturday recommended a dividend of eight rupees per share, subject to requisite approvals.

($1 = 82.0300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; editing by Mark Heinrich and Jason Neely)