SBI projects optimism in itself, economy after strong Q4
MUMBAI : State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday expressed confidence in growing its credit book by 14-16% in the current fiscal year, reflecting the general optimism around domestic growth, after delivering stellar results for the March quarter and FY24. “Once again, we have delivered excellent numbers," chairman Dinesh Khara told media persons after announcing the bank’s financial results on Thursday. “Our net profit for the fiscal year FY24 is the highest ever." However, India’s largest lender’s projected deposit growth of 12-13% for FY25 would continue to lag its expected growth in credit, a phenomenon plaguing the entire banking industry.
The bank reported its highest-ever quarterly and fiscal year profit at ₹20,698 crore and ₹61,077 crore, respectively. Its net profit for the March quarter rose 24% year-on-year (y-o-y), comfortably beating the Bloomberg estimate of ₹13,440 crore. The bank’s deputy managing director (finance) Saloni Narayan quipped that the bank has been breaking new records every quarter.
Analysts said SBI’s results had multiple surprises. “SBI reported its Q4 FY24 results, with a multi-quarter high RoA (return on assets) of 1.36% as the key highlight, helping drive the full-year RoA over 1%. A slowdown in opex growth (thanks to the higher base), sharp rise in net operating income gains and continuation of ultra-low credit costs helped the bank report a profit after tax growth of over 24% y-o-y," said analysts at Sanford C.
Bernstein. The market reacted positively to the numbers, with the bank’s shares on BSE closing 1.14% higher at ₹819.65 on Thursday. Given the growth trajectory, the bank could look at raising more capital through channels that could include equity as well as additional tier-I
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