 "Bank of India Q3 net plunges 70% as bad loans jump")
Bank of India, the country's fourth-biggest lender by assets, on Thursday reported a 70% fall in quarterly profit as bad loans jumped.
The lender, majority owned by the Indian government, said net profit fell to Rs 173 crore ($27.7 million) for the fiscal third quarter to Dec 31, from Rs 586 crore a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 806 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans widened to 4.07%, from 3.54% in the September quarter and 2.81% a year earlier.
Most state-owned lenders that have seen bad loans rising in the December quarter and some bankers have said the pain would continue for the next few quarters. Top lender State Bank of India will report its third-quarter results on Friday.
($1 = 62.4500 rupees)