New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a net profit of Rs 16,511 crore for the January-March quarter of the financial year 2023-24.

This is only a marginal 0.84 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of Rs 16,373 crore for the same period of the previous year.

However, the financial results for the two years are not comparable due to the merger with the parent entity HDFC Ltd during the year.

The HDFC board of directors have recommended a dividend of Rs 19.5 per equity share of Rs 1 for the year ended March 31, 2024, the bank said in a press release.

Provisions and contingencies for the quarter were Rs 13,500 crore which included floating provisions of Rs 10,900 crore.

Net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, grew by 24.5 per cent to Rs 29,080 crore from Rs 23,350 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. The core net interest margin was at 3.44 per cent on total assets.

The bank's Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA) stood at 1.24 per cent, down from 1.26 per cent in the last quarter while the net NPA for the quarter was 0.33 per cent compared to 0.31 per cent in the previous quarter,

The net revenue of the lender grew to Rs 47,240 crore which includes a one-time gain of Rs 7340 crore from the stake sale in subsidiary HDFC Credila Financial Services during the quarter.

Operating expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, were Rs 179,70 crore, an increase of 33.5 per cent over 13460 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Operating expenses for the quarter included staff ex-gratia provision of Rs 1,500 crore.

For the full financial year 2023-24, the total profit of HDFC Bank stood at Rs 64,060 crore.