MUMBAI: The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reported an 80.15 per cent jump in its standalone profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 6,451 crore in the three months to March 2021, aided by higher interest income and lower provisioning for bad loans.
The lender had posted a profit after tax of Rs 3,581 crore in the same quarter of FY20.
For the full year, its standalone PAT grew by 41 per cent to Rs 20,410 crore as against Rs 14,488 crore in FY20.
"We have further consolidated our performance in the previous quarter (Q4 FY21) both in terms of profitability and asset quality.
We have been able to deliver consistent improvement in all the areas of profitability despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic," its chairman Dinesh Khara told reporters.
Net interest income for the quarter ended March 2021 increased by 18.89 per cent to Rs 27,067 crore from Rs 22,767 crore in the year-ago period.
Domestic net interest margin (NIM) improved by 17 basis points (bps) to 3.11 per cent from 2.94 per cent.
Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) improved to 4.98 per cent from 6.15 per cent and net NPA stood at 1.15 per cent as against 2.23 per cent.
"Our gross NPA ratio has come down to below 5 per cent now which is the lowest in five years. Going forward, we do not see any concern on asset quality front and we expect the trend to continue," Khara said.
The bank's loan loss provision declined 16.64 per cent to Rs 9,914 crore from Rs 11,894 crore.
Fresh slippages during the quarter stood at Rs 21,934 crore.
Slippages ratio for FY21 declined to 1.18 per cent from 2.16 per cent as at the end of FY20.
Recoveries and upgradation were at Rs 4,329 crore.
The bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) improved by 68 bps y-o-y to 13.74 per cent as of March 2021.
Its total deposits grew at 13.56 per cent y-o-y, out of which current account deposit grew by 27.36 per cent while saving bank deposits rose by 14.79 per cent.
Domestic credit growth stood at 5.67 per cent y-o-y, mainly driven by retail (personal) advances (16.47 per cent), SME (4.24 per cent) and agricultural advances (3.92 per cent).
Khara said the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in recent times and the restricted lockdowns in many places have slightly decelerated the pick-up in the economy.
With the improvement in vaccination coverage, the recovery in economic activity is expected in the next two to three months, he said, adding that the bank is looking at a loan book growth of 10 per cent in the current financial year.
Khara said the bank intends to create a COVID-19 loan book of Rs 10,000 crore for the healthcare sector.
Earlier this month, RBI had announced an on-tap term liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore under which banks can provide fresh lending support to a wide range of entities including vaccine manufacturers, importers/suppliers of vaccines and priority medical devices and hospitals/dispensaries, among others.
"We will implement a plan of action in FY22 and certainly create a COVID-19 book as desired by RBI. We have already given (funds) to Bharat Biotech, Biological E and Serum Institute. We are quite open to any such requirements and will be more than happy to support," Khara said.
The bank's scrip closed at Rs 401.10 apiece, up 4.30 per cent on BSE.