SBI net zooms 75% to Rs 1,493.19 crore

The State Bank of India posted a better-than-expected net profit in the quarter ended March 31, 2007 on the back of huge rise in other income and fee-based income. The net profit went up by 75 per cent to Rs 1,493.19 crore compared with Rs 853.29 crore for the same period last year.

"Non-interest income has seen a steep growth, and it is more pronounced in SBI than in other banks," said O P Bhatt, chairman and managing director of the bank, while addressing a press meet in Kolkata. The bank's fee income grew 31 per cent, higher than its total income growth of 29 per cent in the last quarter of 2006-07.

Despite beating market expectations, SBI's net interest income growth remained subdued due to a rise in its term deposit rates. The bank's cost of deposits rose to 4.79 per cent from 4.57 per cent while the yield on advances rose by 8.67 per cent from 7.78 per cent in the last quarter.

Total income rose 29.05 per cent to Rs 14,435.76 crore for the quarter, from Rs 11,186.10 crore for the corresponding period a year ago, Bhatt said. "The rise in profits was led by the growth in the mid-corporate segment and the bank is focusing on the growth in the segment," he added.

The central board of the bank has declared a dividend of Rs 14 a share for the year ended March 31, 2007.

For the year ended March 31 2007, the bank recorded a net profit of Rs 4,541.31 crore, against Rs 4,406.67 crore for the same period in the previous year, representing a marginal 3.1 per cent growth. The growth was marginal because of the presence of some one-time gains in last year's profits, Bhatt said. Total income grew to Rs 45,260.28 crore from Rs 43,414.77 crore.

SBI's balance sheet size crossed Rs 5,00,000 crore, with deposits crossing Rs 4,00,000 crore and advances crossing Rs 3,00,000 crore. The interest income on loans grew by 40.36 per cent while the non-interest income grew by 31.57 per cent.

The net interest margin was 3.31 per cent.

The group posted a net profit after minority interest of Rs 6,364.38 crore for the year ended March 31, as compared with Rs 5,529.92 crore of the preceding year and the total income increased to Rs 68,376.83 crore from Rs 60,834.92 crore.

The gross NPA ratio declined from 3.61 per cent to 2.92 per cent.

Correspondingly, the net NPA ratio declined from 1.88 per cent to 1.56 per cent. However, Rs 1,430 crore has been provided for loan losses against Rs 148 crore in the last year. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 12 per cent with the Tier-I segment being 8 per cent and Tier-II being 4 per cent.