For investors waiting for HDFC Bank to move past its post-merger indigestion, the March quarter suggests the worst of the heartburn may be over. Margins have firmed up. Asset quality is improving. And operating profits are growing faster than the top line. This isn’t a breakout quarter, but it could be a base-building one.Start with the numbers. Gross advances rose 3.3% quarter-on-quarter, with credit growth skewed in favour of retail and commercial and rural banking loans. The wholesale portfolio, however, remained anaemic—shrinking 3.8% year-on-year. Deposits, on the other hand, jumped 5.9% sequentially, pushing the credit-deposit ratio down by 180 basis points to a more sustainable 97.4%.
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