Heavy Losses, Yet Share Prices Soar

The State Bank of India, which reported poor quarterly results in May, expects to improve margins and turnaround in the next two years.

- Suyash Desai

The State Bank of India (SBI) reported its biggest ever losses at ₹ 7,718 crore for the January-March quarter, as the country’s prime lender set aside more provisions for bad loans, in line with changes in banking regulations. This was the second highest quarterly loss reported by any public sector bank, after Punjab National Bank registered a loss of ₹13,417 crore in the aftermath of the Nirav Modi fraud case.

The bank’s loss for this quarter was more than what the market had expected. According to analysts, the quarterly losses were expected to be around ₹1,285 crore. In the December quarter, the bank had posted a loss of ₹2,416 crore.