The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, has reported a 123 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 2,815 crore for the March quarter. The net profit in the corresponding period stood at Rs 1,264 crore.

The PSU major beat street estimates with the stock reporting its 52-week high at Rs 314.90 at around 1 PM.

Interest earned for the quarter climbed to Rs 47,393 crore, up by 10 per cent from the Rs 42,942 crore it reported in the year-ago period.

Net Interest income increased by 6.50 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 18,071 crore (Rs 15,401 crore). During the quarter, operating profit improved by 13 per cent to Rs 16,026 crore.

According to Siddharth Purohit, Senior Research Analyst, Angel Broking, the numbers have been better than market estimates.

“There is a positive development, especially on the asset quality front. Details are still awaited. However, the stock has moved up reacting positively to the result,” he told BusinessLine.

For the full fiscal, standalone net profit was Rs 10,484 crore.

Asset quality

In terms of asset quality, gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans fell to 6.9 per cent in the January to March quarter from 7.23 per cent in the October to December period. SBI alone accounts for nearly a fifth of the country’s total banking assets.

On an absolute basis, however, gross non-performing assets increased 14 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,12,343 crore (Rs 98,173 crore). The gross NPA per cent increased to 6.90 (6.50).

Provisions for bad loans fell 9.4 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 10,993 crore in the March quarter.

Net NPAs during the fiscal stood at Rs 58,277 crore; net NPA per cent stood at 3.71.

Sector-wise NPA break-up

Incidentally, exposures in large and mid-corporate portfolios continuing to turn bad has remained a worry for bankers.

Of a Rs 3,41,990-crore exposure in the large corporate portfolio, approximately 10 per cent or Rs 33,070 crore was reported as NPAs as on March 2017, the investor presentation uploaded by SBI said.

On a comparative basis, NPAs in the large corporate lending segment increased by 60 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Similarly, mid-corporate lending too saw an increase in NPAs. NPAs in the mid-corporate segment increased by 13 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 47,009 crore (Rs 41,515 crore). Over 19 per cent of its mid-corporate portfolio of Rs 242,947 crore was reported as NPA.

In the SME, agriculture and retail segments, NPAs came down on a Y-o-Y basis.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India has informed BSE it has declared a dividend of Rs 2.60 per share (260 per cent) for the financial year ended March 31, 2017. The date of payment of the dividend is fixed for June 16, 2017.