SBI Cards and Payments (SBI Card) on Friday posted a 66% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit for the quarter ended March as impairment losses and bad debts shot up 138% y-o-y to Rs 838 crore. The company also set aside additional provisions for Covid-related losses.
“Considering the possible effects from the pandemic relating to Covid-19, the company has performed sensitivity analysis and based on current estimates has created specific Covid-19 related provision of Rs 489 crore,” the credit card lender said in a statement accompanying the first set of numbers declared after the company’s listing.
The total balance sheet size as on March 31, 2020 was Rs 25,303 crore, up 25.6% from Rs 20,146 crore on March 31, 2019. The company’s net worth stood at Rs 5,413 crore at the end of the quarter, up 48% y-o-y. Total credit card receivables as of March 31, 2020 were Rs 24,140 crore, up 30.3% y-o-y. The net interest margin (NIM) improved 155 basis points (bps) y-o-y to 16.6% in Q4FY20. Total income increased 21% y-o-y to Rs 2,510 crore.
Gross non-performing assets (NPA) accounted for 2.01% of gross advances as on March 31, 2020, down from 2.44% a year ago. The provision coverage ratio increased to 67.2% from 66.48% as on March 31, 2019. The company’s tier I capital ratio was 17.7% as on March 31, 2020, up from 14.9% a year ago.
SBI Card saw the number of new accounts in Q4FY20 drop to 8.51 lakh from 9.55 lakh in Q4FY19. Card spends increased 15.5% y-o-y to Rs 32,429 crore in the March quarter.
The company’s shares ended at Rs 561.45 on the BSE on Friday, 2.15% lower than their previous close.