Kotak Mahindra Bank on 30 April reported a 15 % year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit for the March quarter at Rs 1,124 crore, which was below the Street’s estimates.

The growth in net profit was driven by a decline in bad loans and healthy expansion of the bank’s loan book.

A poll by brokerage firm Sharekhan had estimated the private sector bank’s net profit at Rs 1,164 crore, 20 % higher than in the same quarter last year.

The lender’s net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned and interest paid, was in line with expectations, having grown 18 % on year to Rs 2,580 crore.

The bank’s loan book grew 25 percent to Rs 1.70 lakh crore on the back of robust retail loan growth of 24 percent and agriculture loan growth of 20 percent. Its corporate book grew at a marginal pace of 4 percent.