Mumbai, July 19 (IANS) The country's second largest private lender, HDFC Bank Tuesday reported almost a 34 percent increase in net profit at Rs.1,085 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, compared to the like period of last financial year.

The bank's net revenues, including net interest income and other income, grew to Rs.3,968 crore during the quarter under the review, compared to Rs.3,391.6 crore, the company said in a regulatory statement.

The net interest income rose 18.6 percent to Rs.2,848 crore with a net interest margin of 4.2 percent.

The banking sector on the whole has been seeing a slowdown in credit off-take, as the Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates 10 times since March 2010, resulting in loans getting costlier.

HDFC Bank also approved a share split. Every equity share of Rs.10 nominal value will be split into five equity shares of Rs.2 each.

Net non-performing assets were lower at 0.18 percent of net advances in the April-June quarter, as against 0.28 percent in the previous corresponding quarter.

As the results were announced, the bank's share rose to a new high of Rs.519.50. It later corrected to Rs.510.50, about 40 minutes before closing bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The bank added 125 more branches to its network during the first quarter, taking the total to 2,111 branches in 1,111 cities.