Mumbai: RBL Bank Ltd on Thursday reported a 38.77% increase in net profit to ?247.18 crore during the January-March quarter, against ?178.12 crore a year ago due to higher net interest and other income. According to 8 Bloomberg analyst, the bank was expected to post a profit of ?246 crore.

Net interest income (NII), or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, was up 47.61% to ?738.72 crore, from ?500.46 crore in the year-ago period. Other income stood at ?409.23 crore, up 31.18% from ?311.98 crore a year ago.

Provisions and contingencies surged 77.18% to ?199.97 crore in the quarter from ?112.86 crore last year.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose 33.15% to ?754.62 crore at the end of the March quarter from ?566.73 crore in the same quarter last year.

As a percentage of total loans, gross NPAs stood at 1.38% compared to 1.38% in the previous quarter and 1.4% in the same quarter a year ago. Net NPAs were at 0.69% in the March quarter compared to 0.72% in the previous quarter and 0.78% a year ago.

Deposits rose 33.01% to ?58,394 crore, while advances increased 34.87% to ?54,308 crore.

RBL Bank shares fell 1% on the BSE on Thursday, while the Sensex fell 0.24% to 39,183.01.