KOLKATA: The country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) increased its business by Rs 3,58,234 crore in 2013-14, but posted a lower net profit.
Announcing the bank’s financial results for 2013-14 here on Kolkata, SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, “The operating profit of the bank increased to Rs 32,109 crore from Rs 31,082 crore in FY13, an increase of 3.31%. This has been best in the history of the bank.”
Shares of the bank surged 9.69% to settle at Rs 2,755.25 on the BSE.
At the NSE, the stock jumped 10.28% to close the day at Rs 2,769.80.
Tracking the upmove in the counter, the company’s market value surged by Rs 18,175.55 crore to Rs 2,05,699.55 crore.
The total business of the bank increased from Rs 22,81,297 crore in FY13 to Rs 26,39,531 crorein FY14. However, the net profit decreased from Rs 17,916 crore in FY13 to Rs 14,174 crore in FY14, a negative YoY growth of 20.89%.
The earning per share also declined by 23.54% from Rs 267 in FY13 to Rs 204 in FY14.
The world’s largest bank in terms of branches which stood at 15,869 has a total of 21.92 crores of customers.
The net interest income of the bank increased to Rs 32,109 crore from Rs 31,082 crorein FY13, an increase of 3.31%, while the non interest income increased to Rs 18,553 crore from Rs 16,037 crore in FY13, an increase of 15.69%.
The deposits of the bank increased from Rs 12,02,740 crore in March 2013 to Rs 13,94,409 crore in March 2014, a growth of 15.94%, while the savings bank deposits increased from Rs 4,14,907 crore to Rs 4,69,262 crore, a 13.10% YoY growth.
The gross advances of the bank increased from Rs 10,78,557 crore to Rs 12,45,122 crore, a 15.44% YoY growth.
Bhattacharya was optimistic about the country’s economy and said: “A turnaround in the manufacturing sector is expected with the coming government having its priority of creating jobs. The textiles sector should do good. The telecom sector is doing well with rules simplified and made better. The mining and metal sectors should also start doing better.
“The traditional markets in Europe and in the US are doing better and our exports are picking up. If the economy improves, then retail banking will be a good story,” she hoped.
She said that the bank expected better asset quality and if the economy picked up faster the bank too would grow at the rate of 15% to 16%, which it was already.
Commenting on CRR, unlike the views of her predecessor Pratip Chaudhuri, Bhattacharya said cash reserve ratio (CRR) was an useful tool in the hands of regulator RBI.
“In my wisdom, the CRR is an useful monetary tool in RBI’s hands and it depends on how it was being used by the regulator,” she said.
Asked about the efficiency of nationalised banks, she said, “Efficiency of PSU banks needs to be improved. If more autonomy does it, so be it.
“Productivity and efficiency of our people are important and many steps have been taken like making e-learning mandatory,” she said.
Bhattacharya said that 69,000 villages all over the country had been mapped to reduce the chances of non performing assets (NPA) and the gross NPA and restructured assets ratio stood at 8.41% during FY14.
She informed that by next year the SBI would install 4,300 cash recylcers where cash can be deposited in ATMs as well as be withdrawn. The SBI group has 51, 491 ATMs all over the country.