The State Bank of India (SBI)   reported a 35 per cent fall in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31 after making a one-time provision towards pension liability and dearness relief neutralisation. The country’s largest bank posted a net profit of Rs 9,163.96 crore against Rs 14,205.34 crore in the same period of the previous year. These numbers, which were below analyst estimates were recorded following an exceptional item of Rs 7,100 crore. The SBI said this included a provision of Rs 5,400 crore for an estimated liability on account of pension at a uniform rate of 50 per cent for all pensioners prospectively, and another Rs 1,700 crore on account of ex-gratia benefit and neutralisation of dearness relief to pre-November 2002 retirees and family pensioners.Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated a net profit of Rs 13,325.9 crore. The SBI said during the quarter, net interest income (NII-interest earned minus interest paid) increased by 4.59 per cent over the previous year to Rs 39,816 crore from Rs 38,069 crore. Asset quality showed an improvement with the percentage of gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declining to 2.42 per cent from 2.55 per cent on a sequential basis, while the gross NPAs in absolute terms stood at Rs 86,748.81 crore against Rs 86,974.08 crore in the same period. Of this, fresh slippages stood at Rs 4,960 crore, up from Rs 3,831 crore in the second quarter of the financial year. Speaking to reporters, SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said a provision of Rs 240 crore has been made with regard to its exposure to alternative investment funds (AIFs) following a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December 2023. The total exposure to such funds is around Rs 1,000 crore. Replying to a question on whether there has been any communication between SBI and Paytm Payments Bank for the transfer of the latter’s business, Khara said that the bank has not made any such communication and that it is reaching out to its merchants. Khara said SBI has a payments firm called SBI Payments, which supports POS terminals, QR codes and app-based solutions.During the quarter, SBI’s gross advances stood at Rs 34,11,252 crore, marking a growth of 14.38 per cent over Rs 31,33,565 crore in the year-ago period.