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State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest lender in India. The bank reported a robust 84% YoY jump within its net profit to ₹16,801 crores for the 3rd quarter ended December 2025. The profit surpassed the market expectations, i.e., ₹16,099 crore. Despite this, the core income of the bank remained subdued. Net Interest Income (NII) increased by only 4.1%, which is ₹41,446 crore. It fell short of the projections made by analysts of ₹42,592 crore.
SBI Q3 Results Shows Asset Quality Improvement
SBI was able to maintain stable asset quality metrics in the quarter. Its Gross Non-Performing Asset (NPA) ratio improved to approx. 2.07% from the September quarter’s 2.13%. However, the Net NPA ratio of the bank was unchanged at 0.53%. It reflects upon the bank’s continued focus on maintaining asset quality irrespective of the challenges in the market.
SBI Q3 Results Indicated Evident Margin Pressure
Net Interest Margin (NIM), which is a key profitability metric, showed that there was some pressure decline to 3.01% from 3.14% in the previous quarter. Such compression within the margins comes amidst the increased and intense competition within the banking sector and the changing interest rate dynamics.
SBI Credit Growth Continues to Be Strong
Robust loan growth of 14% has been demonstrated by SBI Q3 Results. It outpaced the bank’s deposit growth of 10% YoY. It indicates a strong demand for credit across varied segments, particularly within the corporate and retail sectors.
SBI Lower Provisions Boost
The provision of the bank decreased significantly to ₹911 crore as compared to its previous quarter ₹4,506 crore. However, it was slightly higher than the ₹688 crore of last year’s same quarter. Such reductions within the provisions have substantially contributed to the growth in profit.
SBI Management Commentary & Future Outlook
In the post-earnings interactions, CS Setty, SBI’s chairman, expressed confidence in the growth trajectory of the bank. He was confident, particularly within unsecured personal loans, wherein he expects a staggering double-digit growth. He further noted that the corporate book has been performing well, which is attributed to the corporate deleveraging and the strengthening of underwriting standards.
SBI MFI Portfolio Showed Stress
SBI Q3 Results, when being discussed by Setty with respect to the microfinance segments, it was acknowledged that there was some stress within the industry. However, it was emphasized that the exposure of SBI remains limited, with the MFI portfolio of ₹10,000-11,000 crore.
Market Response to SBI Q3 Results
Despite having a stronger growth in profit, the shares of SBI traded at ₹752.7, which is 1.8% lower, after the announcement of the results. It possibly reflected the public concern over the NII miss and the margin compression.
SBI’s Digital Banking Push
SBI continues to make strides in digital banking. Its YONO platforms have shown an increased adoption and improved digital transactions, which account for the growing share of the total transactions.
End Note
The comprehensive performance of SBI demonstrates the bank’s resilience in maintaining profitability while continuing to manage asset quality. However, there remain some challenges within the core income growth and the margins, which are expected to be sorted with time.
