ICICI Bank first quarter profit up 44% to $326mn

Despite rising interest rates in India, the bank’s 2011 credit growth is estimated to be 20%.

India's ICICI Bank says quarterly profit rose 44 percent on strong loan growth and higher fee and interest income.

India's largest private bank said Thursday that asset quality continues to improve and forecasts credit growth of at least 20 percent this fiscal year, despite rising interest rates in Asia's third-largest economy.

The banks earnings would have been higher except for treasury losses and higher employee costs, according to a report in Business Week.

Profit for the January to March quarter was 14.5 billion rupees ($326 million), while total income rose 14 percent from last year, to 88.0 billion rupees ($2.0 billion).