SBI net dips 34% as provisioning for bad loans jumps
14 Feb 2014
State Bank of India (SBI), the country's biggest lender, has reported a 34 per cent fall in its third quarter (October-December 2013-14) net profit to Rs2,234 crore hit by rising provisioning for bad loans.
The state-run bank had reported a net profit of Rs3,396 crore for the year-ago quarter.
SBI set aside Rs3,429 crore to cover bad loans during the quarter, 24 per cent more than the provisioning of Rs2,766 crore in the same quarter last year.
During the quarter ended 31 December 2013, SBI's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans rose to 5.73 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent during the quarter ended 31 December 2012.
Its net NPAs were also higher at 3.24 per cent against 2.59 per cent in the year-ago period.
However, SBI saw its net interest income (difference between interest earned and expended) increase by 13 per cent to Rs12,641 crore in the October-December 2013 quarter from Rs11,176 crore in the comparable quarter of the previous year.
Other income was up 16 per cent at Rs4,190 crore (Rs3,627 crore in Q3FY13).
Loans and advances grew 17 per cent to Rs11,49,000 crore against Rs9,78,000 crore in December 2012. Similarly, total deposits were up 17 per cent at Rs15,50,000 crore against Rs11,57,000 crore.