MUMBAI, July 17Reuters HDFC Bank, India39;s largest private lender, on Monday reported a biggerthanexpected 30 jump in firstquarter profit, helped by higher net interest income NII and strong loan growth.

The lender39;s standalone net profit was at 119.52 billion rupees 1.46 billion, up from 91.96 billion rupees a year ago. Analysts had expected a profit of 114.97 billion rupees, as per Refinitiv data.

The standalone numbers do not include the business of the bank39;s subsidiaries.

The results come weeks after the bank completed a merger with parent Housing Development Finance Corp in a 40 billion deal aimed at tapping rising demand for home loans.

HDFC Bank39;s net interest income, or core lending income, rose 21.1 to 235.99 billion rupees. Net interest margin was at 4.1, the bank said in a press release.

The lender saw advances rise 15.8 during the quarter, while deposits rose at a faster pace of 19.2.

Asset quality was largely stable, with gross nonperforming assets NPA ratio slipping slightly to 1.17 from 1.12 in the prior quarter. The figure stood at 1.28 a year ago.

Provisions and contingencies, or the funds set aside to cover loan losses, slipped 10.3 to 28.6 billion rupees.

Shares of the lender rose as much as 1 after the results.

1 82.1270 Indian rupees

Reporting by Siddhi Nayak and Chris Thomas; Editing by Varun H K

Source Reuters