The country's largest lender - State Bank of India - on Saturday reported net profit of Rs 8,432 crore for quarter ended December 2021, marking an increase of 62 per cent from Rs 5,196 crore in the same period last financial year. The jump in profit came on the pack of sharp decline in provisions. Its overall provisions in December quarter declined 33 per cent to Rs 6,974 crore. However, its provisions for bad loans jumped 35 per cent to Rs 3,096 crore.
Its net interest income or the difference between interest earned on loans and interest expended on deposits advanced 6.5 per cent to Rs 30,687 crore versus Rs 28,820 crore in the year ago period. Net interest margin (NIM) for December quarter came in at 3.40 per cent, marking an annual increase of 6 basis points.
"The spread of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe resulted in decline in economic activities and movement in financial markets. ln this situation, Bank geared up to meet the challenges and has evaluated the situation on an ongoing basis. The Bank has proactively provided against the challenges of likely stress on the Bank's assets. On the basis of above mentioned assessment, Bank's management is not expecting any significant impact on Bank's liquidity or profitability. The total provision for COVID-19 as on December 31,2O21 stands at Rs 6,183 crore," said State Bank of India in its earnings release.
State Bank of India's asset quality saw a slight improvement as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances came in at 4.5 per cent versus 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter. Gross NPAs stood at Rs 1,20,029 crore.
Its net NPAs came in at 1.34 per cent versus 1.52 per cent in the previous quarter.
Home loans, which constitute 24 per cent of the bank’s domestic advances, advanced 11.15 per cent year-on-year. Growth in corporate and SME segment has also picked up during the quarter, the Mumbai-based lender said in a press release.
State Bank of India shares ended 1.83 per cent lower at Rs 530.20 a day ahead of its earnings.
