SBI Q4 profit jumps 80% as NPAs decline

The country's largest lender SBI on Friday reported an 80 per cent surge in standalone net profit at Rs 6.450.75 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, aided by decline in bad loans.

State Bank of India (SBI) had registered a profit of Rs 3,580.81 crore during January-March period of 2019-20, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

Total income of the bank during the March quarter of the last financial year rose to Rs 81,326.96 crore, from Rs 76,027.51 crore in the same period of 2019-20.

On a consolidated basis, the bank reported a 60 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 7,270.25 crore compared to Rs 4,557.49 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal.'

With regard to asset quality, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank improved at 4.98 per cent of gross advances as on March 31, 2021, as against 6.15 per cent by the same period of 2020.

Net NPA or bad loans too came down to 1.50 per cent as on March 31, 2021 from 2.23 per cent in the year-ago period.

For the entire financial year 2020-21, the bank reported a 41 per cent jump in standalone profit at Rs 20,110.17 crore, from Rs 14,488.11 crore in the previous financial year.

The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share or 400 per cent on the face value for the financial year ended March 31, 2021.

The date of payment of dividend is fixed on June 18, 2021 and the dividend warrants will be dispatched before the date of payment, which will be payable at par at all branches of State Bank of India, irrespective of the amount, it said.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters