New Delhi, April 24 -- SBI Cards and Payment Services reported a decline in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by higher provisions for bad loans.

The credit card services company's profit after tax fell 19% to 5.34 billion rupees (nearly $63 million) for the quarter ended March 31.

Indian lenders have been struggling with asset quality stress, especially in unsecured segments such as credit cards and personal loans.

SBI Card has been facing heightened delinquencies, or late payments, over the last few quarters. It had also reported a drop in profit in the previous two quarters.

The company, backed by India's largest lender State Bank of India, said write-offs and provisions for bad loans jumped 32% to 12.44 billion rupees in the...