SBI posts 8.03% rise in Q2 profit on net interest income boost

Gross NPA stood at 2.55 per cent compared to 3.52 per cent, and net NPA stood at 0.64 per cent as against 0.8 per cent.

The bank’s domestic advances grew at 13.21 per cent and deposits at 11.80 per cent.

SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said he expects a credit growth of 13-14 per cent for the bank in the current fiscal.

“Normally, this is going to be a busy season and so we will see an uptick in credit growth. We are seeing growth in all the sectors, right from retail to SME and to agriculture,” he said.

In the September quarter, the lender’s corporate book grew by 6.62 per cent. Khara said he expects corporates to start availing credit limit soon, which will help the bank in improving its growth in corporate loan book.

SBI’s corporate lending pipeline stands at Rs 4.77 lakh crore, of which Rs 1.5 lakh crore is awaiting disbursement and the remaining is the amount of proposals that are under consideration for sanction.

Khara said the outlook on the domestic activities is brightening on account of sustained buoyancy in services, consumer and wages optimism, public spending on infrastructure and the underlying strength of the financial sector’s balance sheet, even as the corporations deleverage and post strong bottom lines.

“Consumer confidence has improved with uptick in most of the macro-economic conditions. The growth is expected to get momentum through the rest of the year, especially from the impetus on festival spending,” he said.

Khara said the bank is cautious in terms of the evolving global situations. He believes that the geo-political tensions might not have much impact on India as the domestic demand is quite robust.