State Bank of India has registered a record 70.88% growth in consolidated profit in the third quarter ending in December 2016, the country’s biggest lender said on Friday. Last year, the firm’s net profit was at Rs 1,259.49 crore while this year it jumped to Rs 2,152.23 crore after its income surged and its provisions for non-performing assets dropped. The sale of 3.9% stake in its subsidiary SBI Life Insurance Company for Rs 1,755 crore also helped generate income, reported Economic Times.

On a standalone basis, the bottom line figure of the bank soared 134% year on year from Rs 1,115 core to Rs 2,610 crore. For the first time since September 2015, the bank’s profits more than doubled on a year on year basis, reported Reuters. The bottom line figure is a company’s income after all expenses have been deducted from the revenue.

Interest earned for the third quarter stood at Rs 57,738.79 crore, a tad higher than Rs 54,812.12 crore last year. The gross NPA for this quarter jumped to 7.23%. In the last yearquarter, it stood at 7.14%. However, provisions for bad loans fell from Rs. 7,670 crore in the September quarter to Rs 7,244 crore in December.

The growth in SBI’s profit was also because of demonetisation. The bank witnessed a heavy flow of low-cost deposits after the Centre denotified Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November. This, in turn, helped the bank to reduce its funding costs, according to Reuters.

The announcement boosted SBI share prices. Around 1.20 pm, the share prices rose 1.58% to Rs 280 in the Bombay Stock Exchange, reported International Business Times. At the closing time, it settled at Rs 275.