State Bank of India Q3 net profit dips 34% at Rs 2,234 crore

State Bank of India (SBI) today posted a 34% decline in net profit at Rs 2,234.34 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 on account of higher provisioning for bad loans. The country's largest bank had a net profit of Rs 3,396 crore on standalone basis in the October-December quarter of 2012-13.

The total provisioning for non-performing assets rose to Rs 3,428.59 crore during the December quarter, up from Rs 2,766.18 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, SBI said in a filing on the BSE. Total income of the bank rose to Rs 39,061 crore during the third quarter from Rs 33,992 crore in the same period a year ago. 

The gross Non-performing Assets (NPAs), which represents portion of bad loans, stood at Rs 67,799.33 crore at the end of December, up from Rs 53,457 crore in the year ago period.

As of December 31, the bank's portfolio quality declined, with gross NPAs at 5.73% of gross advances, as against 5.30% a year ago. Its net NPAs during the third quarter rose to 3.24%, from 2.59% in the period a year earlier.

On a consolidated basis, the SBI group net profit plummeted by 40 per cent to Rs 2,838 crore during the October-December quarter. It was at Rs 4,648 crore in the year ago period. Shares of SBI were trading at Rs 1,460.80, down 2.59 per cent in the afternoon trade on the BSE.

During the three quarters (April-December) of 2013-14, the bank's net profit on standalone basis declined by 27% to Rs 7,850.43 crore, as against Rs 10,805.76 crore in same period of 2012-13. Its total income rose to Rs 1,12,493.42 crore in the nine months, from Rs 99,361.07 crore in the year-ago period.