Mumbai: State Bank of India on Thursday reported 18 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 21,384.15 crore, driven primarily by non-interest income.
On a standalone basis, the state-owned lender’s profit grew to Rs 20,698.35 crore from Rs 16,694.51 crore in the year-ago period.
Consolidated profit for fiscal year 2023-24 was up 20.55 per cent to Rs 67,084.67 crore as against Rs 55,648.17 crore in FY23.
Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said both the quarterly and yearly profits are all-time highs for the over two-century old lender.
In Q4, core net interest income grew by only 3.13 per cent to Rs 41,655 crore, on the back of over 15 per cent growth in advances but a 0.08 per cent decline in net interest margin.
Khara told reporters that he expects a credit growth of 15-16 per cent in FY25, and will be looking to sustain net interest margin at the current level, wherein the domestic NIM is 3.46 per cent.
Deposits grew at 11.13 per cent in FY24, and Khara said the bank is aiming to take it to 13 per cent in FY25.
Non-interest income grew 24.41 per cent to Rs 17,369 crore, providing the maximum support for the overall profit growth. The bank said profit or revaluations on investments nearly doubled to Rs 3,463 crore, while the miscellaneous income shot up by 62 per cent to Rs 4,957 crore, aiding the overall other income line.
The loan growth was across all streams, including corporate, agriculture, retail and small businesses, Khara said, adding that the aim will be to sustain the same in the new fiscal as well. There was an over 20 per cent reduction in the telecom portfolio even though the corporate loan book grew at 16 per cent, and Khara said it will be taking entity-specific calls in the sector.
The bank has a corporate loan pipeline of Rs 4 lakh crore, with over three-fourths of it from the private sector and the rest being state-led, Khara said, adding that the draw-downs are going up and the demand for term loans signalling private capex is also up.
A transition to the expected credit loss (ECL) system will require Rs 30,000 crore of provisions in up to five years, Khara said, adding that the bank is sitting on non-NPA provisions of over Rs 35,000 crore at present.
The overall provisions declined to Rs 7,927 crore for the March quarter from Rs 8,049 crore in the year-ago period, Khara said, adding that there will not be any jolts from pension liabilities or wage hikes in the future.
The overall slippages increased to Rs 3,867 crore in March quarter as against Rs 3,185 crore in the year-ago period, but were down from the Rs 4,960 crore in the preceding December quarter.
There was an improvement in gross non-performing assets ratio to 2.24 per cent as on March 31, 2024, as against 2.78 per cent in the year-ago period and 2.42 per cent at the end of December quarter. Khara said the bank expects to continue with the same trend on asset quality.
The bank’s overall capital adequacy stood at 14.28 per cent as on March 31, with the core CET 1 ratio at 10.36 per cent. Khara said it has sufficient capital to take care of a 20 per cent credit growth in FY25, but added that it may well look at equity raising in the new fiscal year if need arises. There will be a sizeable quantity of AT-1 bond sales, he added.
The bank has a gold loan book of Rs 1.38 lakh crore and does not see any challenge on it going forward, he said.
An official said the bank added 139 branches to take the overall network size to 22,542 in FY24, and aims to add another 300 branches in FY25.
The bank scrip closed 1.14 per cent up at Rs 819.65 on the BSE as against a 1.45 per cent correction on the benchmark.