State Bank of India Q3 net profit down 34 pct, lags estimates

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, on Friday posted a fourth straight consecutive drop in net income as an increase in bad loans clipped profitability.

SBI followed its state-run peers Punjab National Bank , Canara Bank and Bank of India in posting weak profits amid high defaults by corporates battling reduced cashflows, high inflation and delays in government approvals for projects.

SBI said on Friday that net profit fell more than a third to 22.34 billion rupees in the quarter ended December, lagging analysts' estimate of 25.3 billion rupees.

Non-performing loans as a percentage of total assets rose to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent in the preceding quarter.

 

Last month, India's top private sector lender ICICI Bank warned that corporate defaults would rise in the coming quarters as borrowers succumb to the pressure of a sluggish economy. ICICI posted its slowest profit growth in four years in the December quarter.

SBI shares, valued by the market at about $17 billion, were trading down 1.3 percent at 1,485 rupees.

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Miral Fahmy)