State Bank of India’s full-fiscal net profit has crossed Rs 50,000 crore, making it the first lender in the country to do so.

The state-owned bank has also overtaken HDFC Bank, which was India’s most profitable lender for many years.

SBI's net profit stood at Rs 50,232 crore in FY23, up 59% from Rs 31,676 crore a year ago. HDFC Bank reported a net profit of Rs 44,108 crore for FY23, up 19% from Rs 36,961 crore in FY22.

Net interest income (NII) grew 20% year-on-year while operating profit for FY23 was up 11% at Rs 83,713 crore.

SBI’s standalone net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 2023 zoomed 83% to Rs 16,694.51 crore on account of lower provisions, better asset quality and wider net interest margins. In the year-ago quarter, India’s largest bank had reported a net profit of Rs 9,113.53 crore.

The board declared a dividend of Rs 11.30 per equity share for FY2023 and fixed the date of payment on 14 June.

The bank’s net interest income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 2023 rose 29.47% to Rs 40,393 crore versus Rs 31,198 crore a year ago.

Provisions fell sharply by 54% to Rs 3,316 crore from Rs 7,237 crore.

The lender’s provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) fell almost 61% to Rs 1,278 crore in the March quarter from Rs 3,262 crore in the earlier-year period.

The bank’s asset quality improved with gross NPAs falling to 2.78% as of March quarter, its lowest in over a decade. It was down from 3.14% in the preceding quarter and 3.97% a year ago. Its gross NPAs in absolute terms fell to Rs 90,928 crore from Rs 98,347 crore.

Net NPA ratio was lower at 0.67% in the fourth quarter.

The bank's operating profit rose 25% year-on-year to Rs 24,621 crore. The domestic net interest margin (NIM) during the quarter increased 44 basis points YoY to 3.84%.

The provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved by 135 basis points YoY to 76.39%. PCR including AUCA improved by 171 bps YoY to stand at 91.91% for the fourth quarter. Slippage ratio was at 0.41% for Q4FY23 and 0.65% in FY23. Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) at the end of FY23 stood at 14.68%.

Credit cost for for Q4FY23 at 0.16%, improved by 33 bps YoY. On the business front, the Bank posted credit growth of 16% at Rs 32.69 lakh crore as of March 2023, of which corporate loans grew 12% YoY and retail personal loans rose 18% YoY. 

SBI’s gross advances grew 16% YoY to Rs 32,69,242 crore, as of 31 March 2023. Domestic corporate advances grew 12.52% to Rs 9,79,768 crore against Rs 8,70,712 crore a year ago. Retail loans stood at Rs 11,79,152 crore, up 18% over Rs 10,02,303 crore in the previous year.

Home loans grew 14.07% to Rs 6,40,680 crore from Rs 5,61,651 crore.

SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said the bank expects a credit growth of 12-14% in FY24.

Deposits grew 9% year-on-year to 44.23 lakh crore at the end of March quarter.

On the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) expected credit loss (ECL) framework for provisioning for loans, Khara said that SBI is well equipped to handle it without any adverse impact on its balance sheet. The bank will wait for RBI’s final guidelines on ECL. As of now, ‘ECL is a fiction’, Khara added.