State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday reported a 10% rise in its net profit at Rs 20,160 crore for the September quarter on the back of a one-time income of Rs 4,593 crore from the sale of shares of Yes Bank.
Excluding the one-time gain, the country’s largest lender reported an ordinary set of numbers, posting an operating profit of Rs 27,311 crore, a 7% year-on-year decline. On a sequential basis, SBI’s net profit rose by 5.2%. Analysts had estimated a net profit of Rs 17,387 crore.
The bank’s net interest income (NII) increased by 3.3% y-o-y and 4.7% q-o-q to Rs 42,984 crore. The lender’s net interest margin (NIM) came in at 2.97%, a contraction of 17 bps y-o-y, but up 7 bps q-o-q. NIM for the domestic business was 3.09%, down 18 bps y-o-y and up 7 bps q-o-q.
Domestic advances rose by a strong 12.32%, with SME, agriculture, and retail segments registering double-digit growth. Asset quality remained stellar, with gross NPA at a two-decade low of 1.73%, net NPA at 0.42% and PCR at 75.79%.
The SBI tock hit an all-time high of Rs 959 on Tuesday before closing the session at Rs 957.05, representing a 0.72% increase. SBI Chairman CS Setty said the bank’s net interest margin would be around 3%, much like it was last year. “The U-shaped trajectory we anticipated has already begun to play out, and we expect the momentum to sustain through the coming quarters,” he said.
The chairman observed that the topline growth had been flat as the bank was navigating the repricing cycle of fixed deposits, a 12 to 16-month process which is still unfolding and will likely take another two quarters to normalise.
The bank remains upbeat about its credit growth trajectory.
“Our credit growth continues to be broad-based, with strong momentum across retail, SME, and agriculture segments,” Setty observed. The credit growth guidance for FY26 has been raised from 11% to 12-14% due to income tax and GST rate cuts that have resulted in sustained consumption demand.
SBI plans to open 450-500 new domestic branches this year. Setty believes corporates will resume capital expenditure should the the visible uptick in consumption sustain. Ashwini Kumar Tiwari, managing director, SBI, said: “After several quarters of muted performance, SBI is pleased to share that its corporate credit growth has rebounded to 7.10%, signaling a clear return to momentum.
We are now targeting double-digit growth in the second half of the year, backed by a robust pipeline exceeding Rs 7 lakh crore, half of which is already sanctioned, with the remainder under active discussion.” Against a backdrop of cautious global optimism and strong domestic demand, SBI crossed a historic milestone with total business exceeding Rs 100 lakh crore. The bank aims to continuously maintain approximately 20% of India’s GDP as its asset portfolio, with an ambition to reach 25%. Deposits grew by 9.27% y-o-y during the quarter, reaching Rs 55.92 lakh crore, while current account deposits surged by 17.9%, reflecting a strong liability franchise.
The bank added that the earlier slowdown in advances had resulted largely from prepayments by cash-rich corporates and government entities, as well as equity infusions. The bank’s pipeline is anchored in term loans for capital investment, with strong traction across NBFCs, power, renewables, hydrocarbons, iron and steel, and real estate.
Capital adequacy improved to 14.62%, bolstered by a Rs 25,000-crore QIP. Digital banking continued to thrive, with over 93.5 million YONO users and 64% of new savings accounts opened via the platform. “Our ambition is to have at least 200 million mobile banking customers,” said Setty, adding that in the current quarter, they plan to launch the YONO 2.0 version. With RoA above 1% and RoE at 20.21%, the bank reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable growth and superior returns.