Bank of India reported a 9.65 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 716 crore in the third quarter, primarily owing to robust contribution from its foreign business. The bank’s profit from domestic operations fell to Rs 521 crore in the quarter from Rs 523 crore a year ago. Its net profit from foreign operations jumped 50 per cent to Rs 195 crore.

Net interest income (NII) rose 4.08 per cent to Rs 2,068 crore in the third quarter from Rs 1,987 crore a year ago. The 100-basis point rise in the cost of deposits led to subdued growth in the NII, said chairman and managing director Alok Misra. The cost of deposits rose to 5.96 per cent from 4.97 per cent in the year-ago period.

On growth in credit, Misra said gross advances rose 20.94 per cent to Rs 233,115 crore from Rs 192, 754 crore at the end of December 2010.

Gross NPAs dropped from Rs 6,548 crore (2.7 per cent) to Rs 6,386 crore (three per cent) on a sequential basis. The bank had treated its exposure to Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher Airlines in the third quarter and set aside about Rs 100 crore as provisioning for this, said a bank official.