India's largest bank SBI reports record US$1b Q4 profit

[BENGALURU] State Bank of India, the country's largest lender by assets, reported a record quarterly profit on Wednesday as provisions for bad loans more than halved.

Most large Indian banks have reported higher profits for the September quarter, buoyed by a rebound in credit demand as the economy reopened fully and low interest rates boosted spending on automobiles and homes.

SBI's net profit rose 66.7 per cent to US$1.02 billion for the three months ended Sept 30, from 45.74 billion rupees (S$828 million) a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations for a profit of 71.82 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Provisions for bad loans slid 52 per cent to 26.99 billion rupees, while the bank's gross bad loan ratio, a measure of asset quality, slipped to 4.90 per cent from 5.32 per cent a quarter earlier.

SBI shares, which have outperformed the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index so far this year with a near 90 per cent jump, were up 1 per cent after the results.

REUTERS