State Bank of India (SBI) could report a decline in net profit in the fourth quarter due to lower net interest income growth and absorption of one-time staff expenses even as its asset quality is expected to improve further, according to analyst estimates.
A foreign-owned broking firm expects the fourth quarter net profit of India’s largest bank to decline about 24 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to about ₹12,553.5 crore.
Stock broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher (PL), in its report, sees SBI’s net profit declining about 37.5 per cent yoy to ₹10,432.1 crore. Margins, too, could be impacted
PL expects SBI to end FY24 with strong loan growth of 16.1 per cent. The bank’s asset quality is expected to improve further, with gross non-performing assets at 2.26 per cent of gross loans, from 2.42 per cent in the preceding quarter.
The net NPA position, too, is seen improving to 0.58 per cent of net advances, against 0.62 per cent in the preceding quarter.
Margins could be impacted, declining 0.36 per cent y-o-y to 2.98 per cent. Credit cost could decline 0.33 per cent y-o-y to 0.08 per cent.
Update: SBI has released its Q4 FY24 results after the publication of the above story. Click here to know the latest SBI quarterly results