HDFC Bank, the India-based private sector lender, has posted a 31.2 per cent rise in operating profit for the nine months to 31 December 2009 to Rs4,735.4 crores (around $1 billion), driven primarily by strong asset growth.

Net earnings for the period rose 30.9 per cent from the previous year to Rs2,112.1 crores, as the bank's total gross advances grew 21 per cent, from Rs100,127 crores as of 31 December 2008 to Rs121,051 crores in 2009. The total balance sheet size had reached Rs204,553 crores, with total deposits amounting to Rs154,789 crores.

Net interest income for the quarter to 31 December went up 12.4 per cent to Rs2,223.9 crores, helped by factors such as a 4.3 per cent increase in its core net interest margin and a 12.4 per cent jump in fees and commissions to Rs723.7 crores, the bank said.

2009 turned out to be a good year for HDFC, which added a further 219 branches to its distribution network in the third quarter alone. This gives the Indian bank a total of 1,725 branches in 771 cities as at the end of last year.

These results chime with the country's reputation as the one of the economies to watch out for over the next months as more investors move away from Western economies hit by the global crisis and seek refuge in their relatively unaffected Asian counterparts. India and China currently top the rankings in the region, and even the world, in terms of untapped private wealth.