Bank of India posts $589 million fourth-quarter loss, misses estimates

(Reuters) - Bank of India Ltd reported a net loss of 39.69 billion rupees ($588.87 million) for the fourth quarter, as the state-owned lender set aside more funds for bad loans.

That compared with a loss of 10.46 billion rupees in the year-ago period and expectations of a loss of 12.84 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters estimates by nine analysts.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 16.58 percent at end-March, compared with 16.93 percent in the previous quarter and 13.22 percent a year ago.

Provisions for bad loans surged about 41 percent to 66.74 billion rupees.

Shares ended 4.5 percent higher in a Mumbai market that was up 0.7 percent.

($1 = 67.4000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)