SBI Q2 net profit surges six-fold to Rs 3,375 cr on insurance venture stake sale boost; gross NPAs decline 7.19%

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday reported a nearly six-fold jump in its September quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 3,375.40 crore, prominently aided by a partial stake sale in its life insurance venture, PTI reported.

The bank’s net profit was Rs 576.46 crore in the July-September period of the previous fiscal.

#2QWithCNBCTV18 | Slight improvement in @TheOfficialSBI's asset quality but provisions rise QoQ pic.twitter.com/SM8mzVxKT4

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) October 25, 2019

SBI’s total income on a consolidated basis rose to Rs 89,347.91 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 79,302.72 crore in the year-ago period, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

“Exceptional items represent a net profit of Rs 3,190.97 crore on sale of partial investment in SBI Life Insurance Company. Consequently, the holding of SBI in the subsidiary has reduced to 57.60 percent from 62.10 percent,” it said.

SBI sold 4.5 percent stake in SBI Life Insurance in September as part of its effort to increase public float as per the regulation.

On a standalone basis, the bank’s net profit for the September quarter rose nearly three-fold to Rs 3,011.73 crore as against Rs 944.87 crore in the corresponding three months a year ago. Analysts expected a profit of Rs 2,128 crore, according to Reuters report.

“The management’s indication that they have already made sufficient provisions cheered the market of the bank’s prudence to take care of any future liabilities,” Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president research, SMC Global Securities, said.

Standalone income came in at Rs 72,850.78 crore during July-September, against Rs 66,607.98 crore a year ago.

Net interest income, or the core income, rose 17 percent year-on-year to Rs 24,600 crore, surpassing the Rs 23,075-crore estimate.

The asset quality of the bank improved with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declining to 7.19 percent of gross advances as on 30 September, 2019, from 9.95 percent a year ago.

Net NPAs or bad loans too declined to 2.79 percent of advances from 4.84 percent in the year-ago period.

As a result, gross NPAs in absolute terms reduced to Rs 1.61 lakh crore from Rs 2.05 lakh crore in the year-ago quarter.

Similarly, provision for bad loans declined to Rs 11,396.87 crore as compared to Rs 10,381.31 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

With regard to gross slippage, the bank said, it has declined to Rs 8,805 crore during the quarter from Rs 10,725 crore in the year-ago period.

Provision coverage ratio was 81.23 percent as on 30 September, 2019.

Net interest margin improved to 3.22 percent from 2.78 percent at the end of the second quarter of the previous fiscal.

SBI shares closed at Rs 282.50 apiece, up 7.54 percent on the BSE on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)