India's second largest leader in banking sector in India, ICICI Bank posted a 30% increase in its net profit to Rs 1332 cr. for its first quarter end. The profit for Q1 last year was Rs. 1026 cr.

Net Sales increased by 21% from Rs. 2405 cr. in 2010 Q1 to Rs. 2908 cr. Q1 this year where as Net Income increased from Rs. 10.3 billion last year's first quarter to Rs. 13.3 billion or $ 301 million for the quarter ended June 30.

"We are happy to announce a strong set of numbers, which are driven by the higher net interest income that rose 21 per cent to Rs 2,411 cr., lower bad loans, which almost halved to 0.9 per cent from 1.62 per cent year-on-year, and the resultant 43 per cent drop in provisioning to Rs 454 cr." said Chanda Kochhar, CEO ICICI.

The bank didn't offer higher interest rates on deposits as compared to other banks and therefore the net income figures had the surprise element associated with it.

Bank's nonperforming asset ratio also fell to 0.9% for Q1 whereas nonperforming assets fell by 33% to Rs. 2351 cr. from Rs. 3514 cr. in 2010 Q1.

ICICI Bank climbed 1.9 % at MSCI India to close at Rs. 1036.75 making it the second best performing stock.