SBI Q4 Net Profit Jumps 327% On Stake Sale In SBI Cards

On Friday, the State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 327.1 percent jump in its net profit for the March ended quarter at Rs 3,580.81 from Rs 838.40 in the same period a year ago. Its profit included an exceptional item, that is net profit of Rs 2,731.34 crore on the sale of a certain portion of its stake in its subsidiary SBI Cards & Payment Services Limited during the quarter under review.

For the full year, the public sector lender's net profit stood at Rs 14,488 crore against Rs 862 crore in the previous financial year, the highest ever recorded by the bank, as per its statement to the exchanges.

The full-year profit included another exceptional- net profit of Rs 3,484.30 crore on the sale of the bank's stake in its subsidiary SBI Life Insurance Company in the September 2019-ended quarter (Q2).

Shares of SBI jumped 8 percent to an intraday high of Rs 189.80 after the announcement of Q4 results.

The largest bank in the country reported 0.81 percent decline in the net interest income for the quarter from Rs 22,954 crore in March 2019 to Rs 22,767. However, for the full year, its net interest income rose by 11.02 percent from Rs 88,349 crore to Rs 98,085.

Asset quality of the bank improved in the final quarter of FY20. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances declined to 6.15 percent from 6.94 percent in the previous quarter and 7.53 percent in March 2019. Net NPAs dropped 40 basis points to 2.23 percent from 2.65 percent in the December quarter and 3.01 percent in March 2019.

Fresh slippages were down sharply by 51 percent to Rs 8,105 crore at the end of March quarter 2020, compared to Rs 16,525 crore in December 2019.