Axis Bank shares gain ahead of Q4 earnings announcement today

Shares of private sector lender Axis Bank Ltd rose over 1% in trade on Wednesday, April 24, ahead of the announcement of its earnings for the quarter ended March 2024 (Q4FY24) later in the day.

Ahead of Axis Bank Q4 results, the banking stock is in focus of the investors amid anticipations of the lender returning to profit in the March quarter of FY 2023-24 compared with a loss in the year-ago quarter, when it had completed the merger of Citi Bank’s India consumer division.

In the previous quarter ended December 2023 (Q3FY24), Axis Bank posted a net profit of ₹6,071 crore, which was 4% higher compared to the year-ago period. Net interest income (NII) in the third quarter jumped 9% year-on-year to ₹12,532 crore.

On Wednesday, the Axis Bank stock gained as much as 1.2% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,068.95 apiece on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

The stock has gained nearly 21% in the past one year compared with a 26.5% rise in the benchmark Nifty index during the same period.

In an exchange filing on April 18, Axis Bank had also informed that the board of directors will explore the option of raising funds in its April 24 meeting.

The board will evaluate the options of issuing debt instruments or issuance of equity shares/depository receipts, including qualified institutional placement (QIP), at ‘an appropriate time’.

Earlier this month, Axis Bank was in news after private equity firm Bain Capital sold its remaining 1% stake in the lender through an open market transaction for ₹3,574 crore.

Bain Capital, through its affiliates -- BC Asia Investments III, Integral Investments South Asia IV and BC Asia Investments VII – had sold 3.3 crore shares of Axis Bank at ₹1,071 a share.