Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) India's largest public sector lender, the State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday reported an impressive 84.32 per cent surge in net profit (year-on-year) at Rs 16,891 crore for the October-December quarter (Q3 FY25), from Rs 9,164 crore in the year-ago period. The profit rise was aided by higher core income during the quarter. The net interest income (NII), or core income, was up 4.09 per cent from a year ago and stood at Rs 41,445.5 crore compared to Rs 39,816 crore, according to the bank’s stock exchange filing. The gross NPA ratio improved to 2.07 per cent as on December 31, 2024, against 2.13 per cent in the September quarter. On a sequential basis, the net NPA ratio remained unchanged at 0.53 per cent as on December 31, 2024.

The bank’s ROA and ROE for the nine months of this fiscal (FY25) stood at 1.09 per cent and 21.46 per cent, respectively. The employee expenses dropped 17 per cent to Rs 16,074 crore and the SBI's domestic loans grew 14.06 per cent year-on-year. Provisions rose 32.4 per cent from last year to Rs 911.06 crore. Operating profit for Q3 FY25 grew by 15.81 per cent YoY to Rs 23,551 crore. The SBI reported credit growth at 13.49 per cent YoY with domestic advances growing by 14.06 per cent while gross advances crossed Rs 40 lakh crore (year-on-year).

According to its filing, whole bank deposits grew at 9.81 per cent (on-year), out of which, Current Account Savings Account (CASA) deposits grew by 4.46 per cent YoY. CASA ratio stood at 39.20 per cent as on December 31. While foreign offices’ advances grew by 10.35 per cent, SME advances grew by 18.71 per cent, followed by agri advances which grew by 15.31 per cent, while corporate advances and retail personal advances registered growth of 14.86 per cent and 11.65 per cent, respectively. The bank’s shares were trading at Rs 752.2 apiece, down 1.81 per cent, after the Q3 results.

/IANS