



SBI Q3 preview: Net profit seen rising 5%, loan growth to stay strong
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is expected to post a 5% year-on-year rise in profit for the December quarter (Q3FY26) to ₹17,810 crore, according to consensus estimates from a Bloomberg poll of analysts. The state-owned bank had reported a net profit of ₹16,891 crore in the year-ago period and will announce its Q3FY26 results on 7 February.
Analysts expect SBI to deliver strong loan growth for the quarter under review. Analysts at Motilal Oswal said the public sector lender is poised for industry-leading credit growth of 13-14% year-on-year (YoY), driven by expansion in retail, agriculture and small business segments, a pick-up in personal loans, and selective utilization of working capital limits, even as the corporate capex cycle remains muted. Corporate loans accounted for 33% of SBI’s domestic loan book as of 30 September 2025.
In November last year, SBI chairman CS Setty had said that he expects FY26 credit growth of 12-14%, higher than the 11-12% projected in August. The Reserve Bank of India’s measures to smoothen credit flow alone would lift industry-wide credit growth by about 100 basis points, Setty had said, referring to steps such as allowing banks to finance mergers and dropping an earlier proposal to bar lending to overlapping businesses, apart from rate cuts. Management commentary on margins and loan growth will be closely watched, analysts said.
Since the September quarter, the RBI has cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) , taking cumulative rate reductions to 125 bps since February 2025. “The bank expects NIMs (net interest margin) to remain unchanged at over 3% in Q4 FY26. SBI’s structural advantage, i.e., low-cost Casa (current
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