SBI Q3 consolidated net up 56%

State Bank of India Q3 net up 70%
State Bank of India, the country's biggest bank, reported a 70 percent rise in its third-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating forecasts as strong demand for loans in the booming economy lifted earnings. The government-run bank, which plans to raise $4.3 billion in a rights share issue within the next few months, said net profit rose to 18.09 billion rupees ($458 million) in the December quarter, from 10.65 billion rupees in the same period the previous year. The average forecast given by 12 analysts in a Reuters poll put the bank's third-quarter net profit up 33.6 percent at 14.23 billion rupees. Forecasts ranged between 12.09 billion and 19.16 billion rupees. Rival ICICI Bank last week beat forecasts with a 35 percent rise in net profits and analysts say banks are likely to report the strongest quarterly earnings growth of all the top companies in India. SBI's deposits at the end of December grew 26 percent to 5,101.32 billion rupees from a year ago, while credit advances grew 25.6 percent to 3,953.43 billion rupees, the bank said in a statement. "The average yield on advances improved substantially to 9.93 percent in December 2007 from 8.61 percent in December 2006," it said.

Strong economic growth has increased the demand for loans in India but a series of monetary policy tightening steps by the central bank, including interest rate rises and higher bank reserve requirements, has raised the risk of defaults. The bank said its ratio of non-performing assets was 1.44 percent, marginally lower than 1.45 percent a year ago. SBI has nearly 10,000 branches and 200,000 employees. Along with its subsidiary banks, SBI controls nearly a quarter of India's banking business, but it is facing rising competition. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are stepping up their operations, and foreign banks such as HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank and Citigroup Inc also have ambitious plans for India. Ahead of the results SBI's shares closed 0.9 percent up at 2,345.90 rupees in a weak Mumbai market, which was down 2.1 percent. During the quarter the bank's shares rose 21.6 percent, outperforming the 16 percent rise in ICICI Bank's shares and a 17 percent rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange index .


SBI Q3 consolidated net up 56%

State Bank of India (SBI) today reported a 56% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,383.66 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 1,524.42 crore in Q3FY07.According to a releas issued to the BSE today, income moved up to Rs 24,380.99 crore from Rs 17,045.13 crore in Q3FY07.The bank, on a stand-alone basis, posted a net profit of Rs 1,808.64 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 1,065.06 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. Total income increased from Rs 11,268.38 crore to Rs 15,364 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.
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State Bank of India net profit rises 69.82% in the December 2007 quarter
Operating income rises 30.10% to Rs 12666.81 crore

Net profit of State Bank of India rose 69.82% to Rs 1808.64 crore in the quarter ended December 2007 as against Rs 1065.06 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2006. Total operating income rose 30.10% to Rs 12666.81 crore in the quarter ended December 2007 as against Rs 9735.94 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2006.



Source: Business Standard, Capital Market.