NEW DELHI: State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Thursday reported a 5.6 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 4,837 crore in the December quarter. The Mumbai-based bank had earned a net profit of Rs 4,579 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Total income increased to Rs 34,676 crore from Rs 31,416 crore in the same period a year ago, BoB said in a regulatory filing. Interest income also rose to Rs 30,908 crore during the quarter under review compared to Rs 28,605 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating profit grew to Rs 7,664 crore from Rs 7,015 crore in the third quarter of previous fiscal.

On the asset quality front, the bank's gross non-performing assets ratio moderated to 2.43 per cent against 3.08 per cent a year ago. Similarly, net NPAs, or bad loans, came down to 0.59 per cent from 0.7 per cent at the end of the third quarter last fiscal.

However, the overall provisions, excluding tax, increased to Rs 1,082 crore during the quarter from Rs 666 crore a year ago. Capital Adequacy Ratio declined to 14.72 per cent from 15.96 per cent at the end of the third quarter of the previous financial year.