State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on May 9 reported 24 percent rise in net profit at Rs 20,698 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, aided by strong loan demand. SBI reported net profit of Rs 16,695 crore in the year-ago period.
The profit surpassed estimates of Rs 13,400 crore by analysts.
SBI's interest earned grew 19 percent to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the reported quarter as against Rs 92,951 crore a year ago.
The public lender declared dividend of Rs 13.7o per share for FY24. The share of the bank closed for trading on May 9 at Rs ,819.65, up 1.14 percent.
The bank's asset quality improved in March quarter. The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) of SBI came in at 2.24 percent as against 2.78 percent last year, while net NPA came in at 0.57 percent compared to 0.67 percent last year. At the post results press conference, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, said that the GNPA is the lowest in 10 years at 2.24 percent.
SBI loan growth remained strong in the March quarter, and it clocked one of the best growth in over eight quarters. Here, Khara said: "Credit growth has been robust across all segments. RAM crossed Rs 20 trillion in FY24, Corporate segment healthy growth at 16 percent year on year growth." In FY25, Khara said that the lender would be able to sustain a similar credit growth. "We will be able to maintain a credit growth trajectory of 15-16 percent that we had in FY24. Deposit growth would be around 13-14 percent," said Khara.
"Credit growth is at 15.24 percent YoY with domestic advances growing by 16.26 percent YoY. Corporate advances and agri advances cross Rs 11 lakh crore and Rs 3 lakh crore, respectively," said SBI in a stock exchange filing.
The bank also saw an impressive 36-quarter low in terms of ratio between gross and net NPAs.
In Q4FY24, total income rose to Rs 1.28 lakh crore from Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the year-ago period, while operating expenses grew at a relatively slower rate at Rs 30,276 crore from the year-ago period's Rs 29,732 crore.
The overall provisions nearly halved to Rs 1,609 crore from Rs 3,315 crore in the year-ago period.
On the Reserve Bank of India's draft for provisioning against infra projects, Khara said: "Incremental provisions will not be significant. We will be able to absorb and if this becomes a reality, we will be looking at repricing the loan."
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