Axis Bank reports surprise $183 million loss on Covid-19 provisions

The Mumbai-based Axis booked provisions of 77.30 billion rupees for the quarter, or nearly three times higher than last year, including 30 billion rupees towards COVID-19, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

Axis Bank Ltd, India’s third biggest private-sector lender, on Tuesday reported a surprise 13.88 billion rupee ($182.96 million) loss for the fourth quarter, as it set aside funds to cover potential loan losses due to the coronavirus-driven downturn.

The Mumbai-based Axis booked provisions of 77.30 billion rupees for the quarter, or nearly three times higher than last year, including 30 billion rupees towards Covid-19, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

Analysts had expected a profit of 15.56 billion rupees for the three months to March 31, according to Refinitiv data, compared to a reported profit of 15.05 billion rupees a year earlier.

However, gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans, a measure of asset quality, eased to 4.86% at March-end from 5% in the previous quarter.