Kotak Mahindra Q4 net up 30 pct; to issue free shares

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd , India's fourth-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a better-than-expected 29.5 percent rise in quarterly profit and said it would issue free shares to investors. Standalone net profit rose to 5.27 billion rupees ($83.14 million) for its fiscal fourth quarter to March 31, from 4.07 billion rupees a year earlier. That compared with analysts' expectation of 4.97 billion rupees. The bank will issue one bonus share for every share held, pending approval in the annual shareholders' meeting, it said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday. Kotak Mahindra shares rose more than 5 percent after the announcements. The bank this year bought smaller rival ING Vysya Bank in a record Indian deal for the sector. The banks' operations were combined effective April 1. ($1 = 63.3900 rupees) (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)