A man uses his phone as he walks past a branch of RBL Bank in Mumbai, India, October 20, 2025. REUTERS
BENGALURU, April 25 (Reuters) – India’s RBL Bank reported a three-fold jump in fourth-quarter profit on Saturday, helped by strong loan growth.
The private lender posted a standalone net profit of 2.30 billion Indian rupees ($24.41 million) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with 687 million rupees a year earlier.
After months of slower growth, Indian lenders saw a pick-up in credit demand in the second half of the financial year, aided by consumption tax cuts and a recovery in corporate loans.
RBL’s loans grew 23% in its fourth quarter from a year earlier, while deposits rose 25%.
Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on advances and paid on deposits – grew 7% to 16.71 billion rupees.
Earlier this month, India’s central bank approved Emirates NBD Bank’s proposal to acquire a majority stake in RBL Bank, giving a key regulatory clearance for one of the largest cross-border deals in India’s financial sector.
Last October, Emirates NBD announced plans to acquire a 60% stake in the Indian lender for $3 billion.
RBL Bank will be classified as a foreign bank subsidiary with Emirates NBD as its parent, the Reserve Bank of India said in its approval, which is valid for a year.
The bank’s gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans improved to 1.45%, as of the end of March, from 1.88% in the previous quarter.
Provisions to cover potential bad loans dropped 13.7% to 6.78 billion rupees.
($1 = 94.2400 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Susan Fenton
