The country's largest bank - State Bank of India - on Friday reported net profit of Rs 14,205 crore for quarter ended December 2022, marking an increase of 68 per cent from Rs 8,432 crore during the same period last year. The sharp upmove in profit came on the back of lower provisioning for bad loans and improved asset quality.
The profit numbers posted by SBI were better than estimates as Refinitiv IBES data projected the profit to come in at Rs 13,101 crore, according to news agency Reuters.
The bank's net interest income or the difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits rose 24 per cent to Rs 38,069 crore compared with Rs 30,687 crore during the same period last year.
Net interest margin increased by 29 basis points to 3.69 per cent.
The bank's provisions for bad loans nearly halved to Rs 1,586 crore versus Rs 3,096 crore in the year ago period.
The bank's asset quality saw an improvement as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) came in at 3.14 per cent versus 4.5 per cent in the year ago period. In absolute terms gross NPAs came in at Rs 98,346 crore.
Net NPAs improved to 0.77 per cent.
SBI's credit grew at 17 per cent annually and retail personal advances crossed Rs 5 lakh crore mark in December quarter. Growth in domestic advances was driven by retail personal advances, the bank said.
Whole bank deposits grew at 9.51 per cent annually, out of which CASA deposit grew by 5.88 per cent and CASA ratio stood at 44.48 per cent as on December 31, 2022.
State Bank of India shares closed 3.12 per cent higher at Rs 544 ahead of its earnings announcement.
