State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday beat estimates when it posted a 84 per cent rise in net profits for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 on robust core income and lower outgo on wage hikes and pension liabilities.

The country’s largest lender clocked a standalone net profit of ₹16,891.44 crore against ₹9,163.96 crore a year ago. The bank was expected to report a net profit of ₹16,504 crore, according to Bloomberg.

SBI reported a one-time exception item of ₹7,100 crore to account for wage revisions and pensions in the third quarter a year ago that had pulled down profits nearly 36 per cent.

For the quarter ended December 31, the bank saw a 10.02 per cent growth in interest income to ₹1,17,427 crore from ₹1,06,734 crore in the year-ago period.

Net interest income — interest earned minus interest paid — rose 4.09 per cent to ₹41,446 crore from ₹39,816 crore, after accounting for interest expenses of ₹75,981 crore (₹66,918 crore).

Asset quality improved with the percentage of gross non-performing assets
(NPAs) falling to 2.07 per cent from 2.13 per cent on a sequential basis.

In absolute terms, it stood at ₹84,360.38 crore against ₹86,748.81 crore in the year-ago period and ₹83,369.23 crore in the preceding three months.

SBI added its credit growth showed a rise of 13.49 per cent over the previous year period with domestic advances increasing 14.06 per cent over the last year. Deposits rose 10 per cent to ₹52.29 lakh crore a jump of nearly 10 per cent over ₹47.62 lakh crore in the year-ago quarter.

Domestic CASA (current account and saving account) rose 4.46 per cent to ₹19,65,237 crore from ₹18,81,297 crore in December last year. CASA ratio, however, dropped 198 basis points to 39.20 per cent.

SBI’s numbers failed to cheer the street. Shares of the lender on Thursday ended 1.79 per cent lower on the BSE at ₹752.35.