State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender by assets, reported a 62.3% rise in third-quarter profit on Saturday, the Mumbai-based lender said in a regulatory filing, helped by lower provisions.
Net profit rose to 84.32 billion rupees ($1.13 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 51.96 billion rupees a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations for a profit of 80.94 billion rupees, 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% year-on-year in the quarter, led by strong growth in retail loans.
Total provisions and contingencies for bad loans fell 33% on year to 69.74 billion rupees.
The bank’s gross bad loan ratio, a measure of asset quality, fell to 4.5% from 4.90% a quarter earlier.
Net interest income rose 6.5% on year, while its net interest margin, a key indicator of a bank’s profitability, was 3.4%, up 6 basis points from a year ago.