MUMBAI - State Bank of India (SBI) , the country's largest lender, on Saturday reported an unexpectedly steep 35% drop in net profit for the October-December quarter, weighed down by higher pension costs and wage revisions.

Net profit fell to 91.64 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in its fiscal third quarter from 142.05 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier, SBI reported in a stock exchange filing.

Analysts had estimated a profit of 129.87 billion rupees for the quarter, according to LSEG data.

Profit was hit by a 71-billion-rupee provision for wage revisions and pension costs, the bank said.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by William Mallard)