Shares in Axis Bank is trading higher by 2% at Rs 406 in otherwise subdued market on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The stock of private sector lender is turned ex-stock split today.

The stock is the largest gainer among 30-share index S&P BSE Sensex at 1034 hours.

Axis Bank, the country’s third-largest private sector bank, has reported a 18 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 1,667 crore in the April-June quarter as compared to Rs 1,409 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year, aided by higher net interest income and lower provisions. The net profit was in line with the Street estimates as a Bloomberg consensus estimate for the bank’s net profit was Rs 1,689 crore.

We reiterate our ‘buy’ rating on Axis Bank and raise our target price to R2,200 (earlier R2,120) as well as upgrade our earnings by 2%/4% for FY15/16. At our target price, the stock will trade at 2x FY16e P/BV. We expect EPS CAGR of 18% over FY14-17, with RoEs at 18% and RoAs ~1.8%.

At a recent meeting, we find increased confidence in the management on various parameters, even as nothing much has changed on the ground level yet. It remains confident about 3-5% higher-than-industry growth and new stressed assets at R6,500 crore with a positive bias and specific credit costs at 75-80 bps.

Private banks appear to have managed credit risks better than their state-run counterparts, trimming their exposure to stressed sectors and shifting focus to the retail segment.

“Most private banks continued to report healthy asset quality, driven by the retail segment. Though there is some visible stress in the corporate sector, this remains manageable, given limited exposure...Some banks, with meaningful exposure to power, infrastructure, etc, have been reducing their exposure through recent years,” Deutsche Bank said in a note, after analysing the annual reports of private banks for 2013-14.

The headcount in India’s top private banks is on the rise, despite a slowing economy and uncertain business environment. Large private banks in the country appear to be on a hiring spree, with many of them doubling their staff count in the last five years.

ICICI Bank, the largest private sector lender in India, closed last financial year with 72,226 employees compared to 35,256 staff at the end of March 2010. HDFC Bank increased its headcount to 68,165 from 51,888, while Axis Bank almost doubled its number of employees to 42,420 during this period.

LUCKNOW: Axis Bank, one of India's largest private sector bank has announced launch of the third phase of its advertising campaign around its brand philosophy of 'Badhti ka naam zindagi' or 'Progress On'. With a new cut on the philosophy articulated as 'Badhne ke kai naam hai...',the bank for the first time is also getting associated with a celebrity 'Deepika Padukone' announced as its ambassador to take its brand philosophy ahead.

Markets have marginally come off morning lows with the Sensex down 158 points at 25,421 and the Nifty gave off 55 points to trade at 7,599.

Sell-off was visible in the broader markets as well with both the mid and small cap indices down over 1% each, taking a breather after several weeks of outperformance.

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