Mumbai, Jan 12 (IANS): India's largest home loan company Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Thursday reported a 10.1 percent jump in net profit at Rs.981.25 crore for the quarter ended December on the back of higher loan disbursements.

For the first nine months of the current fiscal, HDFC's net profit was up 16.8 percent at Rs.2,796.48 crore, up from Rs.2,393.01 crore in the April-December period of 2010-11.

The real estate market has been reeling under high interest rates and sales remained sluggish in most cities in 2011.

During the quarter under review, income from operations rose to Rs.4,379.34 crore as against Rs.3,148.95 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal.

The earnings per share increased to Rs.6.56 from Rs.5.91 in the previous quarter. The net interest margin (NIM) of the company stood at 4.3 per cent at the end of December 31.

Gross non-performing loans was at Rs. 1,109 crore, or 0.82 percent of total advances during the quarter. As on Dec 31, HDFC's loan book stood at Rs.132,208 crore compared to Rs.109,051 crore in the previous year.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company's scrip rose 0.9 percent to end the day at Rs.687.50.