ICICI Bank has reported a 36 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 1,815 crore on a standalone basis for the first quarter of FY13.

The growth was due to a 22 per cent increase in advances to Rs 2,68,430 crore and a 16 per cent rise in deposits to Rs 2,67,794 crore.

The bank's CASA ratio (Current Account plus Savings Account as a percentage of total deposits) declined 1.3 percentage points to 40.6 per cent.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio was 18.54 per cent. Capital adequacy ratio is a measure of the extent of capital a bank sets aside to fund its risky loans. It is expressed as a per cent of the risky loans given.

"Our net interest margins on both domestic and international business have improved and our reliance on wholesale deposits is very less," said Ms Chanda Kocchar, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank. "We expect net interest margins for the year to remain close to present levels," she added.

Domestic net interest margins (NIM) were at 3.32 per cent while international NIMs were at 1.6 per cent.

The bank logged in a 28 per cent increase in its domestic corporate loan book . "This was due to an increase in working capital lending and disbursements for projects for which loans had already been sanctioned," said Ms Kocchar. The retail loan book grew at 10 per cent.

The bank has also been able to reduce three percentage points over last year's first quarter expenses due to a tight leash on operating expenditure coupled with revenue growth. Yield on advances rose from 9.2 per cent in Q1 FY12 to 10 per cent in Q1 FY13.

On a consolidated basis the bank's total income was 13 per cent at Rs 16,640 crore and net profit up 25 per cent at Rs 2,077 crore.

The bank plans to recruit between 3,000 and 5,000 employees this year.

On the NSE, the ICICI bank scrip was up 2.6 per cent on Friday at Rs.930.

>raghavendrarao.k@thehindu.co.in

>satyanarayan.iyer@thehindu.co.in