State Bank of India on Friday reported a standalone net profit of ₹2,312 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared with a net loss of ₹4,876 crore in the year ago period. Lower provisioning and better net interest margins helped the largest public sector bank make profits despite higher slippages.
The share price of India’s largest bank closed at ₹308.45 apiece on the BSE, down 2.76 per cent over the previous close .
The bottomline in the reporting quarter (Q1FY20) was supported by a 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in non-interest income at ₹8,015 crore and 35 per cent yoy decline in total provisions, including towards loan loss, standard assets and investment depreciation, at ₹10,934 crore.
Net interest income (the difference between interest earned and interest paid) edged up 5 per cent YoY to ₹22,939 crore.
The bank reported higher fresh slippages of ₹16,212 crore in Q1FY20 against ₹7,505 crore in the preceding (Jan-March 2019) quarter. The slippages came mainly from segments such as corporate (₹5,354 crore), agriculture (₹4,239 crore), small and medium enterprises (₹3,964 crore) and personal (₹2,438 crore).
SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said his bank has maintained its focus on increasing the pre-provision core operating profit, which increased 11 per cent YoY to ₹13,246 crore. He added that the reporting quarter is the fourth consecutive quarter that the bank has reported a net profit and the financial performance has been fairly satisfactory despite certain challenges facing the economy and the banking sector.