SBI Posts Best Quarterly Profit in Q3, Provisions Dip, NII Up 24%

By Malvika Gurung

Investing.com -- India’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (NS: SBI ) released its earnings results for the December ended quarter on Friday, posting its highest-ever quarterly net profit.

The state-owned bank’s net profit jumped 68.5% YoY to Rs 14,205 crore in the third quarter of FY23, exceeding the Street’s estimates of Rs 14,205 crore, led by an increase in core income of the lender as well as a reduction in its provisions against bad loans.

SBI’s net interest income (NII) in the December quarter rose 24% YoY to Rs 38,068 crore in Q3 FY23, and other income surged 34% YoY to Rs 11,468 crore.

The bank’s net interest margin (NIM), a key profitability metric, advanced by 29 basis points on year in the December quarter to 3.69% and up from 3.55% in Q2 FY23.

In terms of the public sector bank’s asset health, its gross NPA fell sharply to 3.14% in the Dec quarter from 4.5% in the year-ago period and from 3.52% in the preceding quarter, while net NPA declined too to 0.77% in Q3 FY23 from 1.34% in Q3 FY22 and slightly from 0.8% in Q2 FY23.

The banking behemoth’s total provisions in the quarter under review dipped 17% YoY to Rs 5,761 crore, and the provisions against bad loans nearly halved to Rs 1,586.47 crore.

The bank’s Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) grew by almost 6% in Q3, with the CASA ratio standing at 44.48% as on Dec 31, 2022.

The behemoth’s stock ended 3.05% higher at Rs 544.2 apiece on Friday.