The total income at Rs 1154.36 crore in Q3, however, was 16 per cent higher than same quarter last year. The drop in profits was mainly due to much higher provisions for non performing assets and rise in employee costs.

SBM posted net profit of Rs 336.79 crore for nine months period ended December 2010, registering an year-on-year growth of over 4 per cent over the same period last financial year. While interest income grew by over 14 per cent y-o-y, growth in interest expenses is pegged at less than 1 per cent.