SBI posts steepest quarterly profit fall in over two years

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, posted its steepest fall in quarterly net profit in more than two years due to worsening asset quality and a slump in treasury operations.

SBI, which accounts for a quarter of the country's loans and deposits, said on Wednesday its net profit fell 35 percent to 23.75 billion rupees in the quarter ended September. Net interest income, or the difference in interest earned and paid out, rose 11.6 percent.

Analysts, on average, had expected profit of about 27 billion rupees.

Indian state banks, with their high exposure to the power and infrastructure sectors, have been particularly hit by the country's economic slowdown. SBI's outgoing chairman said last month that asset quality pressures are likely to continue.

Net nonperforming loans, as a percentage of total assets, worsened to 2.91 percent from 2.83 percent in the preceding quarter.

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Ryan Woo)