State-owned UCO Bank on Tuesday reported a 27 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 639 crore for the third quarter ended December 2024. The Kolkata-based lender had logged a net profit of Rs 503 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Operating profit also rose to Rs 1,586 crore as against Rs 1,119 crore in the December 2023 quarter. Total income increased to Rs 7,406 crore from Rs 6,413 crore in the same period last year, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing. Interest income also rose to Rs 6,220 crore over Rs 5,552 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Net Interest Income (NII) during the quarter rose by 20 per cent Rs 2,378 crore as against Rs 1,988 crore for the same period of the preceding year. On the asset quality front, the bank's gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) declined to 2.91 per cent of gross loans by the end of December 2024 from 3.85 per cent a year ago. Similarly, net NPAs or bad loans came down to 0.63 per cent as compared to 0.98 per cent in 2023. The capital