SBI reports 10 per cent drop in profit at Rs3,354.59 crore

The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, today posted around 10 per cent drop in profit at Rs3,354.59 crore on consolidated basis for the third quarter ended 31December, 2009.

The bank, in the same period in the previous fiscal had earned a net profit of Rs3,713.66 crore, the bank in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

On a stand-alone basis, the bank earned a net profit of Rs2,479.05 core, which is nearly the same as in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The bank's total income was Rs21,145.40 crore in the period as compared with Rs20,305.90 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

SBI chairman O P Bhatt said: "The banks' global credit growth at 19 per cent and that of domestic at 17 per cent. The surplus liquidity remains a concern, touching Rs 75,000 crore on average during the quarter yielding just 4.77 per cent."

The bank declared an interim dividend of Rs 10 per equity share of Rs 10 each (100 per cent dividend).