Indian private sector lender HDFC Bank on Tuesday posted a standalone net profit of 163.73 billion rupees ($1.97 billion) for the third-quarter ended Dec 31.

The bank's standalone net profit, excluding its subsidiaries, was at 159.76 billion rupees in the July-September quarter.

This is HDFC Bank's second earnings report since its merger with parent Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) in July. The numbers are not comparable to a year ago when the lender and HDFC operated as separate firms. ($1 = 83.0650 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )