Recovery in written-off accounts grew 14.6% to Rs.

1,327 crore in Q2, State Bank of India saidState Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, on Monday reported a net profit of Rs 944.87 crore for the July-September period, registering a 40.3 per cent fall from Rs 1,581.55 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The net profit was ahead of analysts' expectations of a profit of Rs 565 crore, news agency Reuters reported citing Refinitiv data.

SBI's total income increased to Rs 66,607.98 crore for the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 65,429.63 crore in the year-ago period.Provisions for bad loans at SBI fell 39.1 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 10,185 crore.

Bad loan additions slowed in the quarter, pushing the overall bad-loan ratio down.The bank's asset quality improved. SBI said it percentage of net NPAs or non-performing assets stood at 9.95 per cent in the September quarter, as against 10.69 per cent in the previous quarter, and 9.83 per cent in the quarter ended September 30, 2017.Recovery in written-off accounts grew 14.6 per cent to Rs.

1,327 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year, the state-run bank said in a statement.Strategy on controlling credit cost, containing overhead expenses and focus on credit quality has enabled the bank to deliver a net profit during the second quarter, SBI said. The bank also said it was on track to meet slippage ratio and credit cost guidance for the current and next financial years.Shares in SBI jumped as much as 5 per cent after the earnings announcement, before settling with a gain of 3.8 per cent for the day.

SBI shares outperformed the broader markets, whose key indices Sensex and Nifty finished 0.2 per cent lower.(With inputs from Reuters)