SBI posts highest ever net profit at Rs 7,626 cr in Q2, up 67%

State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday posted standalone second quarter net profit of Rs 7,626 crore, up 67 per cent over last year and the highest ever for the bank. In the same quarter last fiscal, the bank had reported net profit of Rs 4,574 crore, while on a sequential basis, the profit rose 17 per cent from Rs 6,504 crore in the first quarter.

Shares of the bank, India’s largest lender, were up 3.86 per cent in noon deals at ₹541.85 apiece on the NSE.

The surge in the bank’s net profit in the September quarter came on account of steep decline in provisioning for bad loans and uptick in asset quality.

The state-owned lender’s net interest income (NII) – the difference between interest earned and expended – surged 10.6 per cent to Rs 31,184 crore for the period. The net interest margin (NIM) of the lender in the second quarter rose 16 basis points to 3.50 per cent.

The bank also reported operating profit higher by 9.84 per cent year-on-year to Rs 18,079 crore in the second quarter from Rs 16,460 crore in the last year period.

Its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) at 4.90 per cent in the second quarter were lower than 5.32 per cent in the first quarter and 5.28 per cent in the same quarter last fiscal. The net NPA ratio stood at 1.52 per cent for the quarter under review.

SBI’s non-interest income plunged 3.7 per cent to Rs 8,207 crore in the second quarter as compared to Rs 8,527 crore in the same period a year ago. Its total deposits increased nearly 10 per cent when compared with last year, while current account deposits grew by 19.2 per cent year-on-year and saving bank deposits grew by 10.55 per cent year-on-year.

Loan loss provisions in the second quarter fell sharply to Rs 2,699 crore, down more than 55 per cent from Rs 5,619 crore in the last year period, while bank advances during the second quarter rose by 6.17 per cent over last year, mainly driven by personal retail advances and foreign office advances.

Domestic advances growth stood at 4.61 per cent for the period under review. Home loans, which constitute 24 per cent of SBI’s domestic advances, have grown by 10.74 per cent year-on-year.

Also read: Household debt shoots to 37.3% of GDP in 2021: SBI report