India’s Yes Bank reports profit surge in Q3 on lower provisions

MUMBAI: Indian private lender Yes Bank reported a sharp jump in its third quarter profit on Saturday, helped by a drop in provisions for bad loans and other contingencies.

The Mumbai-based bank, in which Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation 8316.T bought a 24% stake last year, posted a standalone net profit of 9.52 billion Indian rupees ($105 million) for the three months ended December, a 55% increase compared with 6.12 billion rupees a year earlier.

The SMBC deal marked one of the major overseas investments by a Japanese financial institution as they look to secure new sources of growth after years of rock-bottom interest rates at home.

Profits jumped as the bank reduced provisions for bad loans and other contingencies by 91% to 2.2 billion rupees after a few quarters of building buffers on its balance sheet.

Yes Bank’s net interest income rose 10.8% to 24.65 billion rupees compared with 22.23 billion rupees, as domestic loans grew 5.2%. Deposits rose 5.5% in line with loan growth.

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Yes Bank’s net interest margin, a key measure of a bank’s profitability, rose to 2.6% from 2.5% in the previous quarter, as deposit costs started to drop as a result of India’s central bank reducing key interest rates by 125 basis points since February 2025.

The lender’s asset quality remained stable with gross non-performing asset ratio at 1.5% at the end of December, compared with 1.6% at the end of September.

Commenting on the bank’s growth strategy following the investment from SMBC, chief executive officer Prashant Kumar said the lender will release a strategic roadmap over the quarter.

The bank has also initiated the process of succession planning for his role, Kumar said on a press call.

Kumar, who has been the bank’s chief since 2020, will see his current tenure end in April.