A private security guard stands outside a branch of Yes Bank in New Delhi, India, August 30, 2024. REUTERS
MUMBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Indian private lender Yes Bank reported a sharp jump in its third quarter profit on Saturday, helped by a drop in provisions for bad loans and other contingencies.
The Mumbai-based bank, in which Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation bought a 24% stake last year, posted a standalone net profit of 9.52 billion Indian rupees ($104.87 million) for the three months ended December, a 55% increase compared with 6.12 billion rupees a year earlier.
The deal marked one of the major overseas investments by a Japanese financial institution as they look to secure new sources of growth after years of rock-bottom interest rates at home.
Profits jumped as the bank reduced provisions for bad loans and other contingencies by 91% to 2.2 billion rupees after a few quarters of building buffers on its balance sheet.
Yes Bank’s net interest income rose 10.8% to 24.65 billion rupees compared with 22.23 billion rupees, as domestic loans grew 5.2%. Deposits rose 5.5% in line with loan growth.
Yes Bank’s net interest margin, a key measure of a bank’s profitability, rose to 2.6% from 2.5% in the previous quarter, as deposit costs started to drop as a result of India’s central bank reducing key interest rates by 125 basis points since February 2025.
The lender’s asset quality remained stable with gross non-performing asset ratio at 1.5% at the end of December, compared with 1.6% at the end of September.
Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan and Ira Dugal in Mumbai; Editing by Jacqueline Wong
