Mumbai, May 17 : The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), Tuesday reported a sharp fall in net profit for the quarter ended March 31 at Rs. 20.9 crore, as various provisioning measures, including those for pension, hit the bank's bottom-line.

During the quarter under review, the state-owned banking behemoth saw provisions rise to Rs. 7,420.89 crore, which includes pensions, gratuity and non-performing assets.

SBI's net profit for the January-March quarter fell to a meagre Rs. 20.88 crore, compared to Rs. 1,866 crore in the previous corresponding quarter.

The results, which were much lower than what analysts expected, had a negative effect on the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The heavyweight scrip fell a whopping 8 percent in the afternoon at the BSE, pulling down the Sensex 247.94 points at 18,097.09 points.

Interest earned during the quarter rose to Rs. 21,721.35 crore against Rs. 17,965.59 crore in the like period of last fiscal.

Gross non-performing assets were logged at 3.28 percent, compared to 3.05 percent in the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

For the year 2010-11, net profit dipped 9.8 percent to Rs. 8,264.52 crore as against Rs. 9,166.05 crore in the previous fiscal.

Interest earned during the financial year went up to Rs. 81,394.36 crore compared to Rs. 70,993.92 crore in the previous fiscal.

The bank's board recommended a dividend of Rs. 30 per share. (IANS)