SBI, India's largest lender, delivered impressive Q1 results, surprising the market with a significant 178.24% YoY increase in net profit, reaching Rs 16,884 crore. The profit beat the estimated Rs 15,000 crore, setting a record as the highest ever net profit for the fourth consecutive quarter.
SBI's net interest income (NII) also exhibited strong growth, rising by 24.7% YoY to reach Rs 38,905 crore during the quarter. The domestic net interest margin improved to 3.47%, reflecting a 24 basis points YoY increase.
The bank's gross NPA (non-performing assets) showcased a positive trend, reducing to 2.76% compared to the previous quarter's 2.78% and the 3.9% YoY. In exact numbers, The gross NPA decreased to Rs 91,327.84 crore from Rs 113,271.72 crore YoY.
Provisions stood at Rs 2,501 crore, a decline from the previous year's Rs 4,392 crore and the QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) Rs 3,316 crore. The capital adequacy ratio (Basel III) was reported at 14.56%, showing a slight decline from the previous quarter's 14.68%.
While the return on assets reduced marginally by 1 basis point QoQ to 1.22%, the debt-to-equity ratio also saw a decline to 0.64 from 0.66 in the previous quarter of FY23.
SBI displayed robust credit growth, recording a 13.90% YoY increase, with domestic advances growing at 15.08% YoY. The auto loans segment crossed the significant milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore, while agri and corporate loans registered YoY growth of 14.84% and 12.38%, respectively.
The bank's provision coverage ratio (PCR) slipped 23 basis points YoY to 74.82%, while the slippage ratio improved 44 basis points YoY to 0.94%. Credit cost for Q1FY24 also improved by 29 basis points YoY to 0.32%.
Despite the challenging quarter, SBI remained resilient, demonstrating improvement in asset quality with a 15 basis points YoY reduction in gross NPA. This showed that the bank is consistently working to improve the quality of its assets.
After the release of the quarterly results, SBI shares witnessed a temporary decline of 3% and were trading at Rs 572.80 on BSE.