Bank of Baroda posts fourth-quarter loss of $458 million

(Reuters) - Bank of Baroda Ltd on Friday reported a net loss of 31.02 billion rupees ($457.62 million) for the fourth quarter as India's third-largest state-run lender booked higher provisions for bad loans. https://reut.rs/2KSplHV

That compared with a profit of 1.55 billion rupees in the year-ago period and an average estimate of 57.2 million rupees loss in a Thomson Reuters poll of 15 analysts.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 12.26 percent at end-March, compared with 11.31 percent in the previous quarter and 10.46 percent a year ago.

($1 = 67.7850 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)