India's largest lender State Bank of India will report its quarterly earnings for the March quarter today, May 21. The bank is expected to report an over 100 year-on-year growth in standalone profit for the March 2021 quarter, driven by a decline in provisions, healthy net interest income & pre-provision operating profit. Brokerages expect the low base of the previous fiscal to also support numbers in Q4.
According to estimates, net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned and interest expended, could grow more than 25 percent, while non-interest income (other income) could see a YoY decline as the base quarter was aided by the sale of stake in SBI Card. Pre-provision operating profit is likely to grow around 17 percent YoY.
"We expect a healthy operating profit growth of 17 percent YoY led by 11 percent YoY revenue growth. Solid NII growth (27 percent YoY) will be partly aided by a lower base," said Kotak Institutional Equities which expects 113 percent YoY growth in profit for the quarter.
"Loan growth is expected to be subdued at around 5 percent YoY and NIM (core) unchanged QoQ at around 3.1 percent," it added.
Motilal Oswal also expects SBI to report a 113.9 percent year-on-year growth in profit. The brokerage firm sees a 30 percent growth in net interest income and a 17 percent increase in pre-provision operating profit for the March 2021 quarter.
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The loan loss provisions could be lower by around 15 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, but sequentially it may increase around 10 percent in Q4.
According to Motilal Oswal, the restructuring book and the impact on asset quality are the key monitorable.
SBI shares have rallied 40 percent so far in 2021 and surged 151 percent in the last 12 months.