SBI surpasses Reliance Industries to become most profitable co.
The State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender, has reported record-breaking quarterly and annual profits. In the March quarter, there was a remarkable 24 per cent growth in earnings, totalling Rs 20,698 crore, marking the highest figure among all companies in India. Its annual profit peaked at Rs 61,077 crore.
SBI’s net income for the March quarter significantly exceeded the consolidated earnings of Reliance (which stood at Rs 18,951 crore, a decline from Rs 19,299 crore the previous year). which has long held the title of the most profitable firm in the country.
However, in terms of annual earnings, Reliance remains at the top with Rs 69,621 crore in consolidated earnings, slightly higher than SBI’s figure of Rs 61,077 crore.
Comparatively, the largest software exporter, TCS, reported only about 60 per cent of SBI’s earnings, amounting to Rs 12,434 crore for the March quarter, reflecting a 9 per cent growth year-on-year.
From the revenue from operations perspective, SBI leads the corporate sector by a significant margin, with annual revenue reaching Rs 1.11 trillion, marking a substantial 19 per cent increase from Rs 92,951 crore reported a year ago.
Announcing these remarkable figures at the bank’s headquarters, SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara highlighted that both sets of numbers are the highest ever for the bank. This growth was driven by a record improvement in asset quality, with gross bad loan piles dropping to a decade-low of 2.24 per cent, down 54 bps (basis points, with one basis point = 0.01%) from 2.78 per cent last year. Net NPA also decreased to 0.57 per cent from 0.67 per cent last year.
Khara also noted that the net income for the quarter could have been higher by Rs 7,100 crore if not for the additional provision made towards pension liabilities following the implementation of the new wage pact, for which the bank had already provided around Rs 13,500 crore.
