SBI posts Rs 2,416-cr loss, provisions for bad loans shoot up




State Bank of India. Image credit: Zee News

–TMC Desk

Mumbai/Chennai, Feb 9: India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), on Friday said it closed the third quarter of the current fiscal ended December 31 with a net loss of Rs 2,416.37 crore.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE, the bank said it had posted a net profit of Rs 2,610 crore during the corresponding period the previous year.

For the quarter ended on December 31, 2017, the SBI’s total income was Rs 62,887.06 crore, up from Rs 53,587.51 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

During the quarter under review, the provisions shot up to Rs 18,876.21 crore, from Rs 8,942.83 crore in the previous corresponding period.

Of the above amount, total provisions against non-performing loans were Rs 17,759.72 crore for the period under review, up from Rs 7,244.55 crore provided during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The SBI’s gross non-performing assets (GNPA) stood at Rs 199,141.34 crore and the net NPAs at Rs 102,370.12 crore as of December 31, 2017, up from GNPA of Rs 108,172.32 crore and net NPAs of Rs 61,430.45 crore during the same period last fiscal.

According to the SBI, during the period under review, corporate credit was subdued owing to the strategy to grow in better rated corporates and restricting growth in stressed sectors.

On the other hand, personal segment loans — home, automobile and others — grew last quarter.

As to the slippages in assets quality, the SBI said the total slippage during the quarter stood at Rs 25,836 crore, of which corporate sector accounts for Rs 21,823 crore and the balance is from retail, small and medium enterprises (SME) and agriculture.

“It is really shocking and surprising. We did not expect the bank to post a net loss. It is time the Reserve Bank of India should revisit its provisioning norms. Now, for loans to telecom sector, even if the loans are classified as standard, banks have to provide 10 per cent as a matter of caution as the telecom sector is not doing well,” All India State Bank Officers Federation President D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev told IANS.

He said he did not agree that the staff morale will go down because of the net loss posted by the bank.

The bank expects major resolution in the cases referred to National Company Law Tribunal through FY2019.

On containing operating expenses, the SBI said from FY18 to FY20 a total of 41,921 employees would retire while the recruitments at the entry level will be on the lower side, which would reduce the total cost.

–IANS

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