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Bloomberg
State Bank of India (SBI) reported better-than-expected profit as the nation’s largest lender set aside fewer provisions for non-performing loans.
The bank’s net income jumped 52% to 45.7 billion rupees ($610 million) for the three months to September, beating the 36.9 billion rupee average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
SBI set aside 101.2 billion rupees in provisions for the period, compared with 125 billion rupees at the end of June and 131.4 billion rupees a year ago. Its bad loan ratio fell slightly to 5.28%, compared with 5.44% at the end of June.
The lender, which accounts for almost one quarter of loans in the nation’s banking sector, is a key indicator of the health of the Indian economy that’s projected to shrink the most in four decades this financial year.
Lenders in the world’s second-most populous country — like others globally — have been hit hard after a nationwide lockdown forced businesses to close, impacting demand for credit and borrowers’ ability to repay. Still, there are early signs of consumer-led recovery with banks seeing a pick-up in retail loans ahead of the country’s festive season.