(Reuters) - Private-sector lender Federal Bank Ltd posted a 28.3 percent jump in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as a healthy increase in interest income helped offset the impact of higher provisions.
Net profit was 3.34 billion rupees ($46.82 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, compared to 2.60 billion rupees a year earlier, the Kerala-based lender said.
That compares to analysts' average estimates of a profit of 2.97 billion rupees, I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv showed.
Asset quality was largely stable, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans at 3.14 percent at the end of December, compared to 3.11 percent in the previous quarter and 2.52 percent a year earlier.
Interest earned rose 18.1 percent to 29.54 billion rupees, while provisions climbed 17 percent.
($1 = 71.3400 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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