SBI Q4 Results: Profit Falls 10%, NII Rises 2.7% To Rs 42,775 crore

State Bank of India saw its net profit decline but net interest income grow in the final quarter of Fiscal 2025.

Net profit of India's largest lender fell 10% over the year-ago period to Rs 18,643 crore in the three months ended March 31, even as net interest income, or core income, rose 2.7% to Rs 42,775 crore, according to an exchange filing on Saturday.

The net interest margin stood at 3.15%, as on March 31.

The asset quality improved sequentially. The gross non-performing assets ratio fell to 1.82% in January-March from 2.07% in October-December. Net NPA ratio eased to 0.47% from 0.53%.

Provisions stood at Rs 6,442 crore as against Rs 1,608 crore in the year-ago period, with a coverage ratio that improved 19 bps to 92.08%. The slippage ratio improved 7 basis points to 0.55%.

Separately, the board has declared a dividend of Rs 15.9/share.

"The earnings demonstrate our ability to deliver strong results at scale," SBI Chairman CS Setty said during a press conference. "We saw some one-off provision write-backs last year. That was not available this year, which is why profit is down."

Setty believes that going ahead, there will be some impact on margins due to repo rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India.

"The outlook is dependent on the rate cycle," he said. "We expect a 50 bps rate cut this year. This will cause pressure on margins."

"At present, there's no guidance on the pressure that will happen."

SBI's advances grew 12.03% year-on-year to cross Rs 42 lakh crore in the fiscal fourth quarter, even as deposits rose 9.48% to cross the Rs 53-lakh mark. CASA (current account savings account) deposits increased 6.34%. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 14.5%.

Setty expects some moderation in credit growth, going ahead, but that won't be due to the ongoing tariff war.

"The uncertainty (around tariffs) is going to impact overall investment scenario. While we have seen some moderation in credit growth, that cannot be linked to tariffs."

SBI has of late seen a lot of prepayments in the corporate loan book.

"There is no big change in the investment profile of borrowers yet," Setty said. "Whatever commitments are there, we are not seeing any corporate going back on that."

We have sufficient headroom to fund the bank activities," he said.