Kotak Mahindra Q4 net profit rises 30%; to issue free shares

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, country's fourth-biggest private sector lender by assets , reported a better-than-expected 29.5 per cent rise in quarterly profit and said it would issue free shares to investors.

Standalone net profit rose to Rs 527 crore ($83.14 million) for its fiscal fourth quarter to March 31, from Rs 407 crore a year earlier. That compared with analysts' expectation of Rs 497 crore.

The bank will issue one bonus share for every share held, pending approval in the annual shareholders' meeting, it said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

Kotak Mahindra shares rose more than 5 per cent after the announcements.

The bank this year bought smaller rival ING Vysya Bank in a record Indian deal for the sector. The banks' operations were combined effective April 1.

(Reuters)