The board of directors of ICICI Bank met on Wednesday in Mumbai to adopt the audited results for the first half and the second quarter of the current fiscal. The bank has attributed the jump in net profit to a 65.52 per cent jump in its interest income--from Rs 234.16 crore interest income in the first half of 1998-99 to Rs 387.58 crore. "Other income also climbed 35.84 per cent to Rs 54.99 crore from Rs 40.48 crore. The bank's net profit in the second quarter ended September 30, 1999, has gone up by 79.05 per cent to Rs 23.85 crore from Rs 13.32 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, a bank release said.

"The total income rose 61.14 per cent to Rs 442.57 crore in the April- September period this year against Rs 274.64 crore in the same period in the previous year. The total income in the second quarter of the current fiscal has risen 43.6 per cent to Rs 220.37 crore from Rs 153.48 crore in the same period in the previous year," it said.

The bank's scrip price saw some volatility at the Mumbai Stock Exchange where it opened at Rs 37.35, touched an intra-day high of Rs 37.90 and finally closed at Rs 36.50--a 35 paise fall from its previous day close of Rs 36.85.

ICICI Bank's deposits stood at Rs 6,579.70 crore on September 30, 1999, up 48.51 per cent from Rs 4,430.51 crore on September 30, 1998. "The total advances and investment in corporate debt instruments grew 75.63 crore to Rs 3,415.07 crore on September 30, 1999, from Rs 1,944.45 crore on September 30, 1998," the release said.

"The net non-performing assets have come down from 1.80 per cent to 1.19 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal," the Bank said, adding that, during the first half of 1999-2000, the bank opened seven branches and two extension counters.

"All critical internal technology systems in ICICI Bank are Y2K ready and the bank has also set in place a business continuity plan for the millenium," it said.