State Bank of India’s Q4 standalone net jumps 83% to Rs 16,695 crore

State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) standalone profit in the January-March quarter of FY23, declared on Thursday, grew by 83.19 per cent to a record Rs 16,695 crore on the back of healthy net interest income (NII) and lower provisions. The previous best quarterly profit was Rs 14,205 crore in Q3FY23.

For the full financial year 2022-23, the bank’s standalone net profit grew 58.58 per cent to Rs 50,232 crore. The standalone numbers represent the banking operations of SBI.

SBI’s consolidated net profit was up 57.31 per cent at Rs 55,648 crore in 2022-23. This is the second-highest reported profit among listed companies that have announced their earnings so far — after Reliance Industries’ Rs 66,702 crore — and almost Rs 10,000 crore ahead of HDFC Bank’s Rs 45,997 crore.

SBI had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 35,374 crore in FY22.

“For the third quarter running we have posted the highest ever quarterly [net] profit. For the full year our [net] profit is the highest ever by any bank in India,” said Dinesh Khara, chairman, in the post-earnings interaction with the media.

The board of directors has declared a dividend of 1,130 per cent — Rs 11.30 per share (of Rs 1 each) — for FY23, the SBI informed the BSE. Its shares closed 2.11 per cent lower at Rs 574.15 per share.

The public-sector lender’s NII, that is interest revenues minus interest expenses, grew 29.47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 40,393 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 31,198 crore in Q4 FY22. The net interest margin (for domestic operations) improved to 3.84 per cent in Q4 FY23 from 3.44 per cent in Q4FY22.

“NII increased on the back of improvement in yields and credit off take,” Khara said.

Referring to the net interest margin (NIM) trajectory in FY24, Khara said there was room for the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) to go up, which could boost margins. The MCLR is a benchmark for pricing corporate credit.

Non-interest income rose to Rs 13,961crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 11,880 crore in Q4FY22.

Advances grew 15.99 per cent YoY to Rs 32.69 trillion in FY23. Growth in advances was driven by retail loans (17.64 per cent) followed by small and medium enterprises.

J Swaminathan, managing director (corporate banking), said corporate loan growth was expected to remain robust across sectors like roads, ports, and aviation. Khara said there was a pipeline of Rs 1.75 trillion of corporate credit, in addition to Rs 1.78 trillion of sanctions, which are awaiting disbursement.

The corporate loan book is expected to grow 10-12 per cent in FY24.

As for liabilities, the deposits increased by 9.19 per cent YoY to Rs 44.23 trillion. The share of low-cost money — current account and saving accounts (CASA) — in domestic deposits stood at 43.8 per cent at the end of March 2023, down from 45.28 per cent a year ago.

While the bank did not spell out an estimate for deposit growth in FY24, Khara said it would be able to raise adequate resources to meet credit demand and would not require aggressive deposit mobilisation. Also, the bank has excess statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities of Rs 4 trillion and part of it can be monetised to raise resources.

Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 14.68 per cent with common equity tier of 10.27 per cent at the end of March.