Mumbai, Feb. 14: The State Bank of India ' the country's largest commercial bank 'today reported a paltry 4.08 per cent increase in net profits at Rs 3,396.06 crore in the third quarter ended December 31.

However, on a sequential basis, profits were down 7.2 per cent from Rs 3,658.14 crore it earned in the second quarter (July-September).

Total income of the bank rose to Rs 33,992.11 crore during the third quarter from Rs 29,787.37 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Provisioning for non-performing assets fell 8 per cent to Rs 2,766.18 crore from Rs 3,006.12 crore a year ago.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 53,457.79 crore at the end of December, up from Rs 40,098.43 crore in the year-ago period.

The gross NPA as a percentage of total loans rose to 5.30 per cent during the quarter from 4.61 per cent in the year-ago period. The net NPA was 2.59 per cent of loans in the December quarter.

The net interest income (NII), however, declined to Rs 11,154.46 crore during the quarter from Rs 11,518.79 crore in the year-ago period.

On a consolidated basis, SBI's net profit rose 7.64 per cent to Rs 4,648.44 crore during the October-December quarter. It was Rs 4,318.08 crore in the year-ago period.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio based on Basel II norms rose 12.21 per cent from 11.6 per cent a year ago.

The SBI stock closed at Rs 2,214.35 on the BSE, down 1.8 per cent over Wednesday's close.

"The bank has reported subdued operating performance in the third quarter as its net interest income and operating profit declined 2.7 per cent and 4.2 per cent year-on-year, respectively," said Vaibhav Agrawal (VP, research-banking) at Angel Broking.