SBI Q3 net up 15 pct, beats f'cast

State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, beat market expectations with a 15 percent rise in third-quarter net profit as interest income rose.

State-run SBI, which is exposed to some of India's biggest troubled borrowers, reported a net profit of 32.6 billion rupees for the three months to December 31, up from 28.3 billion rupees a year earlier.

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Analysts, on average, had expected a 10 percent rise in net profit to 31.2 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

SBI, which was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service in October because of its thin capital base and worsening asset quality, said its non-performing assets ratio was 2.22 percent at end-December compared with 1.61 percent a year earlier.

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The bank is counting on a government capital infusion of $1.6 billion in the current fiscal year ending March 31, but has said it needs double that amount to maintain its capital adequacy ratio as it grows.