State Bank of India (SBI) – the country’s largest lender by assets – on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 3,580.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31. That marked a surge of more than four times compared to its profit of Rs 838.40 crore in the corresponding to period of a year ago. The financial results by State Bank of India (SBI) come at a time when the country is in the 5th phase of a nationwide lockdown to battle the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has battered the economy and forced many businesses to trim operations.
In a regulatory filing, SBI said that its total income from operations came in at Rs 76,027.51 crore in the final quarter of 2019-20, as against Rs 75,670.50 crore a year ago.
SBI’s net interest income – or the difference between the interest earned from loans and the interest expended on deposits – dropped marginally to Rs 22,767 crore in the 4th quarter of 2019-20, from Rs 22,954 crore in the year-ago period.
Asset quality improved as gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans came in at 6.15 % in the 4th quarter of 2019-20, as against 6.94 % in the quarter ended December 31, and 7.53% in the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Total gross NPAs stood at Rs 1,49,091.85 crore. Net NPAs came in at 2.23% in the January-March period, as against 2.65% in the previous quarter.
The bank’s provisions for bad loans rose to Rs 11,894 crore in the January-March period, compared to Rs 8,193 crore in the quarter ended December 31.