SBI posts ₹7,718 crore loss as bad loans surge
Lower investment income, higher provisions dent profit
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday reported a standalone net loss of ₹7,718 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, mainly due to incremental rise in provisioning for bad loans.
Besides, a lower investment income as well as higher provisioning for wage revision also dented the profits of the stateowned lender, SBI said in a statement.
The bank had registered a net profit of ₹2,815 crore in the corresponding quarter of preceding fiscal ended March 2017.
Compared sequentially, the loss in March quarter widened from ₹2,416 crore net loss in December quarter.
For the full year, the bank has reported a net loss of ₹6,547 crore, while there was a net profit of ₹10,484 crore in 2016-17. “Due to increase in provisions for NPAs and Mark to Market (MTM) on investment portfolio, the bank incurred a net loss of ₹6,547 crore in 2017-18,” it said in the statement.
In the March quarter, bank’s provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) jumped by 119% to ₹24,080 crore as against ₹10,993 crore in same period of 2016-17, showed the bank’s regulatory filing to exchanges.
Overall provisioning and contingencies were raised to ₹28,096 crore for the fourth quarter compared to ₹11,740 crore in the year-ago period. The bank also experienced decline in its operating profit, net interest income during the quarter. However, its non-interest income has improved.
SBI said recovery in writtenoff accounts registered a robust growth of 21.18% in March quarter.
Citing the Reserve Bank of India’s circular of April 2017, SBI said the banks are required to make provisions at a higher rates in respect of advances to stressed sectors of the economy. Besides, in cases of NCLT accounts the provisioning requirements is reduced from 50% of secured portion to 40% of secured portion as on March 31, 2018. “Based on the prospects of recovery, bank has availed the relaxation in a few accounts,” it said.
NEWDELHI: