MUMBAI: The country’s largest lender State Bank of India has reported record quarterly and annual profit with a 24% growth in the March quarter earnings at Rs 20,698 crore, the highest among the India Inc including that of Reliance Industries.
The bank’s annual profit peaked at Rs 61,077 crore. At Rs 20,698 crore, SBI’s March quarter net income is much higher than that of the consolidated numbers of Reliance, which for decades has been the most profitable firm in the country.
RIL’s Q4 net profit came in Rs 18,951 crore, down from Rs 19,299 crore a year ago. But in terms of annual earnings, Reliance still tops the chart with Rs 69,621 crore in consolidated earnings against SBI’s Rs 61,077 crore. TCS reported about 60% of SBI’s at Rs 12,434 crore for the quarter, a growth of 9% YoY. Even from operations revenue side, SBI leads the entire corporate by a wide margin with an annual revenue of Rs 1.11 lakh crore, a rise of 19% from Rs 92,951 crore it had reported a year ago.
SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara told reporters that both the numbers are the highest-ever for the bank and this was driven by a record improvement in the asset quality with gross bad loan piles falling to a decadal low of 2.24%, down 54 bps from 2.78% last year, while net NPA printed in at 0.57% compared to 0.67% last year.
He also said the net income for the quarter would have been higher by Rs 7,100 crore had it not been for the additional provision it has made towards pension liabilities after the new wage pact came into force, towards which it had already provided for nearly Rs 13,500 crore.
Earnings call
SBI topples Reliance Industries to become the most profitable co with Rs 20,698 cr in Q4, up 24%
Reliance net income in Q4 declined to Rs 18,951 cr from Rs 19,299 cr a year ago
But Reliance still leads in annual profit with Rs 69,621 cr, vs SBI’s Rs 61,077 cr which grew 21.6%.
Third profitable co TCS Q4 net income is pale Rs 12,434 cr up 9%
SBI bad loan ratio at 2.24 is the lowest in 10 years