State Bank of India posts third straight quarterly loss

State Bank of India (SBI) reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, as the country`s biggest lender by assets made higher provisions for treasury losses.

SBI`s third consecutive quarterly net loss came in at 48.76 billion rupees ($707.28 million) for the three months to June 30, compared with a profit of 20.06 billion rupees a year ago, and a record loss of 77.18 billion rupees in the March quarter.

The latest loss was much larger than analysts` estimates of 1.71 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 10.69 percent from 10.91 percent in the previous quarter and 9.97 percent last year.