<p class="title">Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd posted a nearly 20% increase in third-quarter profit on Friday, helped by higher interest and fee income and as bad loans dropped.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Net profit rose to Rs 1,053 crore ($165.11 million) in the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 880 crore a year earlier, the country's fourth-largest private bank by assets said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1,069 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 2.31% at end-December, compared with 2.47% in the previous quarter and 2.42% in the same period a year ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Net interest income rose about 17% to Rs 2,394 crore.</p>
<p class="title">Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd posted a nearly 20% increase in third-quarter profit on Friday, helped by higher interest and fee income and as bad loans dropped.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Net profit rose to Rs 1,053 crore ($165.11 million) in the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 880 crore a year earlier, the country's fourth-largest private bank by assets said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1,069 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 2.31% at end-December, compared with 2.47% in the previous quarter and 2.42% in the same period a year ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Net interest income rose about 17% to Rs 2,394 crore.</p>