Canara Bank December-quarter profit soars 152 per cent

India’s Canara Bank Ltd reported a 152.5 per cent surge in quarterly net profit on Monday, buoyed by higher interest income and a write-back of provisions made for mark-to-market losses.

The lender’s net profit came in at 3.18 billion rupees ($44.70 million) for the three months ended Dec 31, 2018, compared with 1.26 billion rupees a year ago.

That compares with analysts’ average estimate for a profit of 2.99 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Asset quality improved, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans standing at 10.25 per cent at end-December, versus 10.56 per cent in the previous quarter. This was also lower than 10.38 per cent in the same period a year ago.