<div>Axis Bank Ltd, India's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a better-than-expected 19 per cent increase in quarterly profit even as bad loans rose.</div><div> </div><div>Net profit rose to Rs 1,978 crore ($310 million) for its fiscal first quarter to June 30 from Rs 1,667 crore a year earlier, the bank said in a filing. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1,939 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.</div><div> </div><div>Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 1.38 percent in the June quarter from 1.34 per cent in the previous three months.<br><br>(Reuters)</div>
