Photo: Pradeep Gaur/MintMumbai: India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said net profit in the January-March quarter fell 66% from a year ago, due to higher provisions against rising bad loans. Counter-cyclical provisions are those made during good times by lenders to be used during economic slowdown or a surge in bad loans such as the present time. The state-owned lender reported a net profit of Rs.1,263.81 crore, down from Rs.3,742 crore a year ago. This is the bank’s sharpest fall in net profit since March 2011, when it fell 99%. Of the total provisions, those against bad loans increased to Rs.12,139 crore in the January-March period as compared with Rs.4,986 crore a year ago.

Source: Mint May 27, 2016 02:33 UTC