Axis Bank Q3 net profit plunges as bad loans jump

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Axis Bank Ltd, India's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported on Thursday third-quarter net profit tumbled 73 percent as provisions for bad loans jumped.

Net profit fell to 5.80 billion rupees ($85 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 21.75 billion rupees a year earlier, missing 7.79 billion rupees on average expected by analysts.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 5.22 percent from 4.17 percent in the previous quarter, and compared with 1.68 percent a year ago. Provisions, including for bad loans, surged more than five times from a year earlier to 37.96 billion rupees.

Ahead of the results, Axis shares closed down about 1 percent in a Mumbai market that gained 0.22 percent.

Earlier in the day, Axis Bank's smaller rival - Yes Bank - reported a better-than-expected 31 percent rise in net third-quarter net profit to 8.83 billion rupees.

Another private sector lender Federal Bank Ltd reported a 26 percent rise in third-quarter profit, roughly matching estimates.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which also reported on Thursday, saw its net profit rising about 70 percent.

($1 = 68.1550 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)