Mumbai, May 18 (IANS): The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) Friday reported a massive hike in net profit at Rs.4,050 crore for the quarter ended March 31 on account of decline in provisions of bad loans and strong credit demand.

The bank had posted a net profit of Rs.20.88 crore during the like period of the previous financial year, it said in a regulator filing.

Following the results, the shares of the bank surged 4.14 percent to trade at Rs.1,924.70 apiece.

The total income stood at Rs.33,959.5 crore, up 28 percent during the quarter under review against Rs.26,536.8 crore during the year ago period.

During the year ended March 31, 2012, the net profit of the bank stood at Rs.11,707.3 crore, up 42 percent against Rs.8,264.5 crore during the year ended March 31, 2011.

The total income during the year under review stood at Rs.1,20,873 crore, up 24 percent against Rs.97,219 crore during previous year.

The bank's gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio declined to 4.44 percent in the quarter ended March 31 from 4.61 percent in the previous quarter. Net NPA ratio also declined to 1.82 percent against 2.22 percent in the previous quarter.

The bank also proposed a dividend of Rs.35 per share for the accounting year ended March 31, 2012.