The Hindu Business Line : SBI expects double digit growth in profits for April-June

NEW DELHI: Country's largest lender the State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said even though there is an upward pressure on the interest rates it expects to register double digit growth in profit in the first quarter of this fiscal.

“We don't take short-term view on interest rates, but there is definitely an under current of upward bias on interest rates... There is pressure on margin but we will maintain net interest margin (NIM) to be around 3 per cent for this fiscal,” Mr O P Bha tt, Chairman of SBI said here.

However, there is no proposal at present to tinker with the interest rates, he said.

Demand for loans for some sectors such as commercial real estate and auto has slowed down, but there is no impact on other sectors including homes loans and medium and large corporates loans, he added.

Last month SBI increased lending rate by 50 basis points to 12.75 per cent and deposit rates were increased by 75 basis points. On the bottom line, Bhatt said profit growth in April- June quarter is likely to be double digits.

SBI net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.07 per cent for the year ended March 2008. SBI net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 stood at Rs 1,883.25 crore, a growth of 26.12 per cent over the corresponding period last year. - PTI

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