Mumbai, April 17: Two leading private sector banks have reported profit in line with market expectations. HDFC Bank Ltd and UTI Bank have reported a 30 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 263.21 crore and Rs 151.73 crore, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, boosted by robust growth in their loan portfolio and fee income.

HDFC Bank had posted a net profit of Rs 202.37 crore in the corresponding period last year. With an average asset growth of almost 48 per cent and a net interest margin of over 4 per cent, the bank’s net interest income rose 44 per cent to Rs 739.4 crore.

HDFC Bank's topline was also boosted by a 38 per cent jump in its other income to Rs 304.2 crore that primarily consisted of a strong growth in fees and commissions. However, the bank suffered a loss on sale and revaluation of investments. These losses, which were largely on non-SLR investments, were suffered because of a sharp increase in short-term yields in the debt market during March.

Revenues from retail banking, which is the largest contributor to its topline, grew 52 per cent to Rs 1592.72 crore during the quarter from Rs 1051.32 crore last year. Revenues from wholesale banking also grew to Rs 861.40 crore (Rs 516.47 crore) and treasury income more than doubled to Rs 248.45 crore from Rs 100.68 crore.

For the year ended March 31, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 870.78 crore (Rs 665.56 crore) on a total income of Rs 5,599.32 crore (Rs 3,744.83 crore). HDFC Bank said during 2005-06, its total balance sheet size increased by 42.9 per cent to Rs. 73,506.4 crore. Total deposits increased by 53.5 per cent from Rs 36,354.3 crore to Rs 55,796.8 crore.

Savings account deposits at Rs 16,185.8 crore and current account deposits at Rs 14,752.5 crore together accounted for approximately 55.4 per cent of total deposits on March 31.

The board today recommended a dividend of 55 per cent for the year against 45 per cent for the previous year.

The other private-sector bank ? UTI Bank ? has posted a net profit of Rs 151.73 crore for the quarter ended March 31 compared with Rs 116.54 crore for the same period last year. The bank’s total income grew 46 per cent to Rs 1,060.72 crore from Rs 722.42 crore last year. For the year ended March 31, net profit was Rs 485.08 crore against Rs 334.58 crore last year.