Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on Tuesday reported a 14.3% year-on-year rise in standalone net profit to Rs 23,038 crore for the second quarter of FY27, aided by strong growth in net interest income and an exceptional gain.
Net profit stood at Rs 20,160 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income (NII) rose 14.7% YoY to Rs 49,143 crore from Rs 42,847 crore a year ago, beating Street estimates on the back of robust loan growth. The bank reported an exceptional gain of Rs 7,289 crore, against Rs 4,593 crore a year ago, from its stake sale in SBI Funds Management.
Non-interest income declined nearly 5% to Rs 19,066 crore, mainly due to a fall in treasury income. Operating profit slipped 1.4% YoY to Rs 26,937 crore.
Asset quality improved, with gross NPA ratio declining to 1.39% from 1.47% in the June quarter and net NPA at 0.36%. Slippage ratio was at 0.50%.Net interest margin (NIM) improved sequentially. Domestic NIM rose 11 basis points to 3.11%, while whole-bank NIM rose 8 bps to 2.94%.
Chairman C.S. Setty said the NIM trajectory has been positive and the bank will continue to benefit from the 25-bps increase in the external benchmark-linked rate (EBLR).
“We are hopeful of maintaining NIM above 3%,” Setty said at the earnings press conference, adding that any further repo rate hikes would reprice the EBLR-linked portfolio quickly and could add another 4-5 bps to NIM. SBI retained its FY27 guidance of 14-15% credit growth and 10-11% deposit growth.
