State-run State Bank of India on Friday posted a 37 per cent fall in standalone net profit for the second quarter ending September at Rs 1,581 crore pulled down by higher provisioning for the period.
The country's biggest lender had registered a profit after tax of Rs 2,006 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, the bank said in a stock exchange filing here.
SBI's total provisioning, including for non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, for the quarter in consideration at Rs 18,418 crore were a whopping 87 per cent over the previous quarter's figure of Rs 9,869 crore and also 27 per cent higher over the provisioning in the same period last year.
Of the total provisioning, that on account of loan losses was Rs 16,715 crore.
The bank's asset quality, however, improved during the July-September quarter as fresh slippages declined by more than half. Slippages as a ratio of the total loan book fell to 1.85 per cent, from 5.37 per cent during the previous quarter.
Gross NPAs' ratio fell to 9.83 per cent from 9.97 per cent in the previous quarter.
State Bank's net interest income during the quarter in review, at Rs 18,586 crore, rose 5.57 per cent over the previous quarter but was a 2.58 per cent improvement over this income in the same quarter last year at Rs 18,119 crore.
Domestic net interest margin rose 9 basis points over the previous quarter to 2.59 per cent.
The lender's non-interest income at Rs 16,016 crore was a 58 per cent increase over the same quarter last year at Rs 10,146 crore and double over the previous quarter's Rs 8,006 crore.
Fresh slippages in the second quarter at Rs 9,026 crore recorded a sharp 65 per cent fall over the previous quarter's figure of Rs 26,249 crore
Slippages from watchlist amounted to Rs 10,424 crore, while the total watchlist stood at Rs 21,288 crore.
SBI's net bad loan ratio decreased relative to the previous quarter to 5.43 per cent from 5.97 per cent.
SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday that there is, currently, limited space for further easing of its lending rate. The SBI had, last week, reduced its lending rate for home and auto loans by 0.05 percentage points.
With results coming in the first half, the SBI stock was trading higher at 3 p.m. on Friday at Rs 329.90 a share, up Rs 16.15, or by 5.15 per cent over its previous close on the BSE.
