SBI’s Q4FY25 net profit declines 10% to ₹18,643 cr on jump in total provisions

CS Setty, SBI Chairman
| Photo Credit:
cueapi

State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 10 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in standalone fourth quarter (Q4FY25) net profit at ₹18,643 crore, with the bottomline being weighed down by a jump in total provisions, including towards loan loss, standard assets, investment depreciation and other provisions.

The country’s largest bank had logged a net profit of ₹20,698 crore in the year ago quarter (Q4FY24). The net profit in the reporting quarter, however, is up about 10 per cent compared with preceding quarter’s ₹16,891 crore.

The board , at its meeting held on Saturday, declared a dividend of ₹15.90 per equity share of ₹1 each fully paid up (that is 1590 per cent) for FY25.

The board also approved raising of equity capital aggregating up to ₹25,000 crore (including share premium) in one or more tranches during FY26.

The capital raise will be via Qualified Institutions Placement/Follow-on Public Offer or any other permitted mode or a combination thereof and will be contingent upon the business needs and market conditions.

On the decline in net profit, Chairman CS Setty noted that there were some one-offs in Q4FY24, particularly in the form of provision write-back, and the same was not available in the reporting quarter.

Income up

Net interest income/NII (difference between interest earned and interest expended) nudged up about 3 per cent y-o-y to ₹42,775 crore (₹41,655 crore).

Other income rose by a robust 39 per cent to ₹24,210 crore (₹17,369 crore) mainly on the back of healthy growth in fee income and strong growth in profit on sale/revaluation of investments and forex income, among others.

Whole-bank net interest margin (NII/ total assets) declined to 3 per cent from 3.30 per cent in the year ago quarter.

Per Setty’s assessment, there could be another 50 basis points cut in the policy repo rate. So, the bank’s margin will definitely come under pressure as some of the loan portfolio gets repriced immediately with the policy rate cut, but existing deposits get repriced with a lag.

Asset quality

Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) position improved to 1.82 per cent of gross advances as at March-end 2025 against 2.24 per cent as at March-end 2024. Net NPAs position, too, improved to 0.47 per cent of net advances from 0.57 per cent.

Setty emphaissed that the asset quality of the bank has continued to remain strong over the last five years, demonstrating the quality of its loan portfolio, robustness of underwriting processes, effective collection efficiency, and the leadership across business lines.

Total provisions, including towards loan loss, standard assets, investment depreciation and other provisions, shot up 57 per cent y-o-y to ₹12,643 crore (₹8,049 crore).

Gross advances increased 12.03 per cent y-o-y to ₹42,20,703 and total deposits were up 9.48 per cent to ₹53,82,190. In FY26, SBI expects credit and deposits to grow 12-13 per cent and abour 10 per cent, respectively.

Setty underscored that the bank has a corporate loan pipeline of about ₹3.4 lakh crore, equally divided between sanctions pending disbursal and loans proposals under various stages of discussion. He observed that even without rasing capital, SBI will be able to support loan growth of ₹8 lakh crore. Moreover, the bank has excess statutoty liquidity ratio (SLR) securities of about ₹3.6 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, for the full financial year (FY25), SBI reported a 16 per cent increase in standalone net profit at ₹70,901 crore (₹61,077 crore).

Published on May 3, 2025