SBI REPORTS 80% JUMP IN MARCH QUARTER PROFIT TO ₹6,451 CRORE

MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday reported a record quarterly profit, helped by higher net interest income and lower provisions to cover loan losses. Net profit at the country’s largest lender rose 80% from a year ago to ₹6,451 crore in the three months ended March 31, topping the ₹6,166.2 crore average estimate in a survey of 10 analysts by Bloomberg.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and expended, rose 18.9% year-on-year to ₹27,067 crore. Its domestic net interest margin, a measure of profitability, narrowed by 5 basis points (bps) to 3.26% from the preceding December quarter. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

Provisions, or the money set aside to cover losses, fell 11% ₹13,249 crore in the fiscal fourth quarter as asset quality improved.

While the bank performed better than expected, the coming quarters may show some impact of the second wave of the pandemic. The second wave and the subsequent lockdowns have disrupted economic activity, although less severely than last year.

“The sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in recent times and the restricted lockdowns in many places have slightly decelerated the pickup in the economy that we have witnessed in the previous two quarters,” said SBI chairman Dinesh Khara.