SBI Q3 net plunges 60%, bad loans rise less than expected

New Delhi: State Bank of India, the nation`s top lender by assets, reported a 62 percent fall in quarterly profit although its bad loans rose less than expected.

SBI shares gained more than 5 percent after the results.

The lender, which accounts for almost a quarter of India`s banking business, said net profit was 11.15 billion rupees (USD 164 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec 31, compared with Rs 29.1 billion a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 33.08 billion.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 5.1 percent in the December quarter from 4.15 percent in the previous three months.

The Reserve Bank of India, the banking sector regulator, has asked lenders to treat some troubled accounts as if they were bad loans and make adequate provisions, as part of its efforts to clean up bank balance sheets by March 2017.