22 May 2015: India’s largest bank , SBI today reported 23% jump in standalone net profit at Rs 3,742 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2015 with improvement in asset quality. SBI had net profit of Rs 3,040 crore during the same quarter a year ago. Total income of the bank also increased to Rs 48,616 crore in the last quarter of FY15, from Rs 42,443 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
Stock Rating: Buy at 265-285 for upside target of 315-335.

13 Feb 2015: India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) posted a 30% rise in net profit, at Rs 2,910 crore, in the October-December quarter (Q3, FY15). The profit was driven by improvement in asset quality, higher non-interest income and stable corporate loan growth. Net interest income (NII) increase 9 per cent, while non-interest income jumped 24 per cent to Rs 5,238 crore on account of profit on sale of investments. Corporate loans grew 20% against muted growth recorded by other public sector banks. While retail loans rose 13 %, lending to the mid-corporate and small and medium sectors witnessed a marginal de-growth. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances improved to 4.90 % in Q3 FY15 from 5.73 % in the year-ago period. Sequentially, it remained almost flat (4.89 % in the previous quarter). The profit growth was lower due to higher provisioning for bad loans, which increased 26 %year-on-year (up 22.5 % sequentially) to Rs 5,235 crore.
“We have done a lot of hard work with individual follow-ups, account by account, to get resolution of bad assets. We have also strengthened our teams and now will do a mega auction of Rs 1,200-crore assets on March 14,” Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and Managing Director, SBI.
Stock Rating: Buy at 265-285 for upside target of 315-335.