MUMBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters): State Bank of India (SBI) the country's largest lender, on Saturday reported an unexpectedly steep 35 per cent drop in net profit for the October-December quarter, weighed down by higher pension costs and wage revisions.
Net profit fell to 91.64 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in its fiscal third quarter from 142.05 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier, SBI reported in a stock exchange filing.
Analysts had estimated a profit of 129.87 billion rupees for the quarter, according to LSEG data.
Profit was hit by a 71-billion-rupee provision for wage revisions and pension costs, the bank said.
SBI's net interest income - the difference between interest earned and interest paid - rose 4.6 per cent to 398.16 billion rupees. Net interest margins dipped by 35 basis points year-on-year and nine bps quarter-on-quarter to 3.34 per cent due to deposit repricing.
Most Indian banks have reported a drop in net interest margins for the fiscal third quarter as deposits were repriced higher.
SBI has seen the peak of deposit rates and deposit repricing is mostly done, Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara told reporters at a press briefing in Mumbai.
State Bank of India sees 35pc drop in net profit
FE Team | Published: February 03, 2024 22:18:48
State Bank of India sees 35pc drop in net profit
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