Riding on lower provisioning and improved asset quality, state-run State Bank of India SBI) in August reported a net profit of Rs 2,312 crore during the first quarter ending June against a net loss of Rs 4,876 crore during same period of 2018-19. India’s largest lender’s April-June profit was 176 per cent higher sequentially over the net profit registered during the fourth quarter of the last fiscal. In the January-March quarter, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 838.40 crore.

Though the bank’s bottomline jumped substantially, its gross slippage during the quarter in consideration stood at a five-quarter high of Rs 16,212 crore, against Rs 7,961 crore in the previous quarter. The asset quality in the June quarter was stable with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances flat at 7.53 per cent compared to the previous quarter, though net NPAs as a percentage of net advances inched up by 6 basis points (bps) sequentially to 3.07 percent.