State Bank posts third consecutive quarterly loss
BENGALURU: SBI POSTED A LOSS OF ₹4,876 CRORE FOR THE THREE MONTHS TO JUNE 30, COMPARED WITH A PROFIT OF ₹2,006 CRORE A YEAR AGO
The State Bank of India (SBI) reported a biggerthan-expected quarterly loss on Friday, as country’s biggest lender by assets made higher provisions for treasury losses although its improved bad loan ratio sent its shares higher.
SBI’s third consecutive quarterly net loss came in at ₹4,876 crore for the three months to June 30, compared with a profit of ₹2,006 crore a year ago, and a record loss of ₹7,718 crore in the March quarter.
The latest loss was much larger than analysts’ estimates of a loss of ₹171 crore , according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
SBI, which accounts for more than a fifth of India’s banking assets, recognized net mark to market losses on investments of ₹5,893 crore in the June quarter, instead of availing a central bank option to spread the losses over four quarters.
But its gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans slipped to 10.69% from 10.91% in the previous quarter. That was, how- ever, still above 9.97% posted a year ago.
Its bad-loan provisions for the quarter rose 7.5% to ₹13,038 crore, but fell more than 45% from the March quarter.
Indian banks have been plagued by record levels of nonperforming loans over recent years, and held ₹10.36 lakh crore in soured assets at the end of March, with state-run banks including SBI accounting for more than 86% of the pile.
Last month, more than 20 Indian lenders signed a pact aimed at faster resolution of bad loans.
SBI shares reversed early losses to rally as much as 2.8% to the highest in six months following the results. They have since fallen, trading down 1.7% at 0918 GMT.