Mumbai, April 28: ICICI Bank — the country’s second largest lender — has reported a record 44 per cent jump in standalone profit at Rs 1,452 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31.

In the same quarter last year, it had posted a profit of Rs 1,006 crore.

The bank’s fourth-quarter numbers were in line with the Street’s estimates.

ICICI Bank’s chief executive Chanda Kochhar expects the bank to meet its target of expanding credit by 20 per cent this year despite the rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India to tame inflation.

Provisions for bad loans dropped 61 per cent during the quarter to Rs 384 crore from Rs 990 crore in the three months ended March 31, 2010, and the bank expects that this number to go down further in this financial year.

Net interest income increased 23 per cent to Rs 2,510 crore during the quarter, while fee income rose 18 per cent to Rs 1,791 crore.

Profits were dampened by a treasury loss of Rs 196 crore and an increase in operating costs that totalled Rs 1,789 crore in the three months ended March 31 compared with Rs 1,458 crore in the corresponding period of the last year.

ICICI Bank has improved the quality of its assets during the year. Net non-performing assets fell 37 per cent to Rs 2,459 crore from Rs 3,901 crore a year ago.

Net non-performing asset ratio decreased to 0.94 per cent from 1.87 per cent as on March 31, 2010.

The bank reported an impressive capital adequacy ratio of 19.54 per cent, significantly higher than the central bank’s requirement of 9 per cent.

According to a statement issued by the bank, advances increased 19 per cent year-on- year to Rs 2,16,366 crore.

Savings deposits rose 26 per cent year-on-year to Rs 66,869 crore.

The ICICI Bank board has recommended a dividend of Rs 14 per equity share.

Its share price closed at Rs 1,117.55, up nearly 1 per cent from the previous close of Rs 1,107.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Last week, HDFC Bank exceeded the market’s expectation by posting a 33 per cent increase in its fourth-quarter profit. Country’s biggest lender State Bank of India will report its quarterly results on May 17.