Hit by higher provisions and slower net interest income growth, State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, on Thursday reported a 6.93 per cent year-on-year decline in standalone profit at Rs 5,196.22 crore for the quarter ended December 2020 from Rs 5,583.36 in the same period a year ago.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 3.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 28,819.94 crore in Q3 of FY21. NII in Q3 of last year was higher due to the recovery in the Essar Steel account.
SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara said total stressed assets (slippages added with restructured accounts) will remain below Rs 60,000 crore this year as against Rs 41,000 crore as of December. The bank aims to control its credit costs this year, well below the 2 per cent guidance it had given previously, he said.