MUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, beat market expectations with a 15 percent rise in third-quarter net profit as interest income rose.
State-run SBI, which is exposed to some of India's biggest troubled borrowers, reported a net profit of 32.6 billion rupees for the three months to December 31, up from 28.3 billion rupees a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had expected a 10 percent rise in net profit to 31.2 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
SBI, which was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service in October because of its thin capital base and worsening asset quality, said its non-performing assets ratio was 2.22 percent at end-December compared with 1.61 percent a year earlier.
The bank is counting on a government capital infusion of $1.6 billion in the current fiscal year ending March 31, but has said it needs double that amount to maintain its capital adequacy ratio as it grows.
