State Bank of India, the country's largest lender by assets, reported a 62.3 per cent rise in third-quarter profit on Saturday, the Mumbai-based lender said in a regulatory filing, helped by lower provisions.
Net profit rose to Rs 8,432 crore for the three months ended Dec. 31, from Rs 5,196 crore a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations for a profit of Rs 8,094 crore, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Most Indian banks have reported stronger profits for the December quarter on improved lending in the final months of the year as coronavirus restrictions were lifted.
SBI said its domestic loans grew 6.47 per cent year-on-year in the quarter, led by strong growth in retail loans.
Total provisions and contingencies for bad loans fell 33 per cent on-year to Rs 6,974 rupees.
The bank's gross bad-loan ratio, a measure of asset quality, fell to 4.5 per cent from 4.90 per cent a quarter earlier.
Net interest income rose 6.5 per cent on-year, while its net interest margin, a key indicator of a bank's profitability, was 3.4 per cent, up 6 basis points from a year ago.
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