Federal Bank Posts 28% Jump In December Quarter Profit, Beats Street Estimates

Private-sector lender Federal Bank posted a 28.3 per cent jump in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as a healthy increase in interest income helped offset the impact of higher provisions.

Net profit was Rs 334 crore ($46.82 million) in the three months to December 31, compared to Rs 260 crore a year earlier, the Kerala-based bank said.

That compares to analysts' average estimates of a profit of Rs 297 crore, data from Refinitiv showed.

Asset quality was largely stable, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans at 3.14 per cent at the end of December, compared to 3.11 per cent in the previous quarter and 2.52 per cent a year earlier.

Interest earned rose 18.1 per cent to Rs 2,954 crore, while provisions climbed 17 per cent.

Shares in Federal Bank declined as much as 4 per cent on Thursday. At 1:12 pm, the stock traded 3.7 per cent lower at Rs 88.35 apiece on the NSE. 

($1 = Rs 71.3400)