SBI Q4 net falls 18.5% to Rs 3,299 crore

State Bank of India on Thursday reported a 18.54 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 3,299 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 on account of lower interest income, causing its shares to plummet over 7 per cent on the bourses.

SBI had a net profit of Rs 4,050.27 crore (Rs 40.5 billion) in the January-March quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.

The standalone total income of the bank rose to Rs 36,331 crore (Rs 363.31 billion) during the quarter, from Rs 33,959 crore (Rs 339.59 billion) in the corresponding period a year ago, SBI said in a statement.

The net interest income of the bank declined 4.42 per cent to Rs 11,591 crore (Rs 115.91 billion) during the fourth quarter.

The gross Non-performing Assets, which represents portion of bad loans, stood at Rs 51,189 crore (Rs 511.89 billion) at the end of March, up from Rs 39,676 crore (Rs 396.76 billion) in the year ago period.

The gross non performing assets as a percentage of total loan rose to 4.75 per cent during the quarter, from 4.44

per cent in the year ago period.

The net NPA was at 2.10 per cent of loans in the March quarter.

For full fiscal (2013-14), the bank reported a 20 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 14,105 crore (Rs 141.05 billion).

It was higher than Rs 11,707 crore (Rs 117.07 billion) in the 2012-13 fiscal.

Shares of SBI fell 7.24 per cent in the afternoon trade to Rs 2,193.20 apiece on the BSE.

For the full fiscal (2012-13), SBI's the net interest income rose 2.40 per cent to Rs 44,331 crore.

Total provisioning of the bank stood at Rs 16,977 crore at the end of 2012-13 fiscal, against Rs 19,866 crore in 2011-12 fiscal.

The Bank declared a dividend of Rs 41.50 per share, for the year ended March 31, 2013.

On a consolidated basis, SBI's net profit rose 17 per cent to Rs 17,916 crore during the 2012-13 fiscal. It was Rs 15,343 crore in the year ago period.

Net profit of five associate banks increased to Rs 3,678 crore during the 2012-13 fiscal, from Rs 3,627 crore in the year ago peroid, the bank said in a statement.