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Informist, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

 

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--SBI Oct-Dec net profit INR 210.28 bln 
--Analysts saw SBI Oct-Dec net profit at INR 173.57 bln 
--SBI Oct-Dec net profit INR 210.28 bln vs INR 168.91 bln yr ago 
--SBI Oct-Dec total income INR 1.41 tln vs INR 1.28 tln yr ago
--SBI Oct-Dec provisions INR 45.07 bln vs INR 9.11 bln yr ago 
--SBI Oct-Dec NPA provisions INR 32.16 bln vs INR 23.05 bln yr ago 
--SBI gross NPA ratio 1.57% on Dec 31 vs 1.73% qtr ago, 2.07% yr ago 
--SBI net NPA ratio 0.39% on Dec 31 vs 0.42% qtr ago, 0.53% yr ago
--SBI Basel-III capital adequacy ratio 14.04% on Dec 31 
--SBI provision coverage ratio 75.54% on Dec 31 
--SBI Apr-Dec net profit INR 603.48 bln vs INR 522.58 bln yr ago 
--SBI Apr-Dec total income INR 4.11 tln vs INR 3.80 tln yr ago
--SBI Oct-Dec net interest income INR 451.90 bln, up 9% on year 
--SBI Oct-Dec domestic NIM 3.12% vs 3.09% qtr ago, 3.15% year ago 
--SBI gross advances INR 46.84 tln on Dec 31, up 15.1% on yr 
--SBI total deposits at INR 57.01 tln on Dec 31, up 9% on year 
--SBI domestic retail personal loans INR 16.64 tln on Dec 31, up 15% on yr 
--SBI domestic corporate loans INR 13.34 tln on Dec 31, up 13.4% on yr 
--SBI Q3 fresh slippages INR 44.58 bln vs INR 38.23 bln yr ago 
--SBI Q3 recoveries, upgrades INR 23.71 bln vs INR 12.06 bln yr ago 
--SBI: Special Mention Accounts-1, 2 at INR 38.70 bln on Dec 31 
--SBI Oct-Dec credit cost 0.29% vs 0.24% year ago

 

MUMBAI – State Bank of India's net profit in the December quarter beat analyst expectations on the back of biggest annual jump in other income in 10 quarters. Single-digit growth in net interest income and a rise in provisions on year kept the bank's bottom line growth in check.

 

The country's largest lender reported a profit after tax of INR 210.28 billion in the reporting quarter, up 4.3% sequentially and over 24% on year. The net profit was seen at INR 173.57 billion, according to the average estimate of 13 brokerages. 

 

The bank's other income, which includes non-fund based commission, fee income, some treasury income and dividends from subsidiaries, surged to INR 183.59 billion in the December quarter, up nearly 20% on quarter and over 66% on year. This was the largest annual rise since Apr-Jun 2023. Income from treasury operations rose over eight times on year to INR 69.93 billion.

 

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned and expended – rose 9% on year to INR 451.90 billion in Oct-Dec. Analysts had estimated net interest income would grow only 2% on year to INR 422.76 billion.

 

The domestic net interest margin was little changed at 3.12%, up 3 basis points on quarter but down 3 bps on year. This was despite the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee cutting the repo rate by 25 bps in early December. A repo rate cut typically shrinks banks' margins, which some analysts had expected for SBI, as loans linked to external benchmark reprice lower immediately while deposit costs reduce over time. The MPC has cut the repo rate by 125 bps between February and December and the state-owned lender's Apr-Dec domestic net interest margin was down 17 bps on year to 3.08%.

 

SBI's total income rose 9.7% on year to INR 1.409 trillion in the reporting quarter, while total expenses were up only 3% to INR 1.080 trillion. The bank's expenses on employees, over half of its operating costs, fell marginally on year to INR 160.03 billion in the reporting quarter. Unlike several other companies, SBI did not make any provisions in its December quarter results for the new labour codes notified by the government in November.

 

"The Rules relating to said Labour Codes are yet to be notified," the bank said in its earnings release. "Based on the broad assessment carried by the management, the Bank continues to comply with the major provisions and any consequential impact arising therefrom will be assessed and appropriately accounted upon such notification."

 

The bank's operating profit surged nearly 40% on year to INR 328.62 billion in Oct-Dec, growing at a 20% clip sequentially as well. However, provisions rose nearly fivefold on year to INR 45.07 billion in the reporting quarter, eating into the bottom line. Of this, INR 32.16 billion were provisions for non-performing assets, up 40% on year.

 

The increase in provisioning came even as asset quality of the overall lending book improved. SBI's gross non-performing asset ratio declined to 1.57% as on Dec. 31 from 1.73% a quarter ago and 2.07% a year ago. The net NPA ratio was also down to 0.39% as of December-end from 0.42% on Sept. 30 and 0.53% a year ago. However, credit cost rose 5 bps on year to 0.29%.

 

The bank reported fresh slippages of INR 44.58 billion in the December quarter, down sequentially but up from INR 38.23 billion a year ago. This was offset by recoveries and upgrades nearly doubling on year to INR 23.71 billion, up from INR 22.79 billion a quarter ago. Outstanding gross NPAs were lower on Dec. 31 compared with both September-end and a year ago. Special mention accounts 1 and 2 were at INR 38.70 billion as on Dec. 31, up from INR 37.62 billion on Sept. 30 but sharply lower than INR 95.52 billion a year ago.

 

Not including technical write-offs, the bank's provision coverage ratio rose 88 bps on year to 75.54% as on Dec. 31. The bank also had additional provisions of INR 306.42 billion not included in the ratio at the end of the quarter. Its Basel-III capital adequacy ratio declined to 14.04% on Dec. 31 from 14.62% on Sept. 30, but was above the regulatory minimum of 12.30%.

 

The bank's net profit in the first nine months of the financial year that started April grew 15.5% on year to INR 603.48 billion. Total income was up 8.1% on year to INR 4.112 trillion in Apr-Dec.

 

The State Bank of India's total advances rose 15.1% on year to INR 46.835 trillion as on Dec. 31. Of this, domestic advances were up 15.4% on year to INR 39.902 trillion. The growth rate compared favourably with industry trends. The total loans of scheduled commercial banks were up 14.5% on year as on Dec. 31. 

 

Corporate loans were the slowest-growing segment, up 13.4% on year to INR 13.336 trillion. Loans to small and medium enterprises were up 21% on year to top INR 6 trillion at December-end, while retail personal loans were up 15% to INR 16.638 trillion, the largest part of the loan book. Home loans made up 22.8% of fund-based outstanding credit in India, with 14.6% given to the services sector. Loans other than home and auto made up 15.5% of the credit outstanding on Dec. 31.

 

On the liabilities front, the banking giant's total deposits grew 9% on year to INR 57.013 trillion at December-end. The annual rise in domestic deposits to INR 54.679 trillion on Dec. 31, at 9.1%, was slower than the 12.7% on-year growth recorded by scheduled commercial banks as a whole.

 

Current account and savings account deposits grew 8.9% on year to INR 21.397 trillion as on Dec. 31. The ratio of these low-cost deposits fell to 39.13% as of Dec. 31 of the balance sheet, from 39.63% a quarter ago and 39.20% a year ago. Term deposits grew 9.2% on year to INR 33.281 trillion.

 

"Short term cyclical factors notwithstanding, SA (savings account) remains strong for the Bank," SBI said in its investor presentation. "Strengthening liability franchise and CASA (current account savings account) mobilisation remains the strategic focus of the Bank."

 

The pan-India lender opened over 60,000 savings accounts daily in Oct-Dec, of which 68% were through its YONO mobile application. On Friday, SBI's shares closed 0.7% lower at INR 1,066.40 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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