Bank Of Baroda Posts Profit Of Rs 471 Crore In December Quarter

Bank of Baroda said on Tuesday its third-quarter net profit more than quadrupled, but missed estimate as the lender set aside higher provisions for bad loans.

Net profit jumped to Rs 471 crore ($66.21 million) in the three months ended December 31, 2018, from Rs 112 crore a year earlier, but came in way below analysts' average estimate for a profit of Rs 711 crore, according to Refinitiv data.

Provisions for bad loans rose 8.3 per cent to Rs 3,416 crore, the country's third-biggest state-backed lender by assets said in a filing to the exchanges.

However, asset quality improved, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans easing to 11.01 per cent at the end of December from 11.78 per cent in the previous quarter, and 11.31 per cent in the year-ago period.

The lender is set to merge with two smaller state-run lenders - Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank - early this year in a government push to tackle bad loans.

($1 = Rs 71.13)