State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, on Friday reported a near three-fold jump in first-quarter profit, led by a surge in net interest income, healthy loan growth and lower provisions.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid out, rose 24.7% to 389.05 billion rupees, while net interest margin, a key indicator of a bank’s profitability, rose to 3.47% from 3.23% a year ago.
However, slippages more than doubled to 76.59 billion rupees sequentially, primarily from small and medium enterprises and agriculture lending.
Indian banks have been reporting double-digit credit growth in recent months, driven by rising consumption, even as the Reserve Bank of India raised interest rates.
The bank’s gross loans increased 13.9% from a year earlier, while deposits climbed 12%, led by term deposits that offer better returns.