State Bank of India (SBI) logged the second-biggest annual corporate profit in the country after Reliance Industries in FY26 – at ₹83,299 crore – on robust loan growth. Yet, the stock slumped, reflecting mounting investor concerns with margin compression after surging bond yields accelerated treasury losses in the March quarter at the most-valued government entity.
In the fourth quarter, net profit climbed 6%, despite evident pressure on margins, to ₹19,684 crore. On a standalone basis, SBI reported annual net profit ₹80,032 crore, up 13% over March 2025, while consolidated profit climbed 7% at the bank that is India’s largest lender by outstanding bank credit.
Chairman CS Setty said the bank continues to expect credit growth at 13% to 15% in the current fiscal year ending March 2027 citing a ₹5.5 lakh crore corporate loan pipeline and continuing strong trends in the retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) loans.
“The West Asia crisis and volatilities in inflation notwithstanding, we are still confident of a 13% to 15% loan growth even this year because we are still seeing a strong corporate pipeline and RAM growth also remains strong,” Setty said. “We expect loan yields to improve as more of our assets which are on a floating rate, get repriced.”
Profit was aided by a strong loan growth despite losses in its treasury business. Net profit was higher than the ₹18,898 crore estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Net interest income (NII), or the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid for deposits, increased 4% to ₹44,380 crore as corporate and retail advances growth was healthy at an identical 15% each.
Setty said with a capital adequacy of 15% that can support ₹12 lakh crore of loan growth and excess bond investments of Rs 3 lakh crore, the bank does not need to raise equity capital this fiscal.
Thinning Margins
Domestic net interest margin (NIM), or the difference between the yield on loans and cost of funds, dropped to 2.93% in March 2026 from 3.14% a year ago, reflecting the pressure on the bank’s yields.
Setty, however, said SBI expects to maintain a 3% NIM in the current fiscal assuming there is no further change in the benchmark repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The bank’s stock fell 7% to ₹1,019 apiece on the BSE, likely as investors were disappointed with the bank’s NIM.
Non-interest income fell 29% to ₹17,314 crore mainly due to losses the bank suffered in its treasury business. The bank had to unwind its forex positions after the RBI late March asked banks to cap their net open rupee positions in offshore markets to $100 million at the end of each business day effective April 10.
That was far lower than the 25% of total capital limits allowed earlier.
In the fourth quarter, net profit climbed 6%, despite evident pressure on margins, to ₹19,684 crore. On a standalone basis, SBI reported annual net profit ₹80,032 crore, up 13% over March 2025, while consolidated profit climbed 7% at the bank that is India’s largest lender by outstanding bank credit.
Chairman CS Setty said the bank continues to expect credit growth at 13% to 15% in the current fiscal year ending March 2027 citing a ₹5.5 lakh crore corporate loan pipeline and continuing strong trends in the retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) loans.
“The West Asia crisis and volatilities in inflation notwithstanding, we are still confident of a 13% to 15% loan growth even this year because we are still seeing a strong corporate pipeline and RAM growth also remains strong,” Setty said. “We expect loan yields to improve as more of our assets which are on a floating rate, get repriced.”
Profit was aided by a strong loan growth despite losses in its treasury business. Net profit was higher than the ₹18,898 crore estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Net interest income (NII), or the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid for deposits, increased 4% to ₹44,380 crore as corporate and retail advances growth was healthy at an identical 15% each.
Setty said with a capital adequacy of 15% that can support ₹12 lakh crore of loan growth and excess bond investments of Rs 3 lakh crore, the bank does not need to raise equity capital this fiscal.
Thinning Margins
Domestic net interest margin (NIM), or the difference between the yield on loans and cost of funds, dropped to 2.93% in March 2026 from 3.14% a year ago, reflecting the pressure on the bank’s yields.
Setty, however, said SBI expects to maintain a 3% NIM in the current fiscal assuming there is no further change in the benchmark repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The bank’s stock fell 7% to ₹1,019 apiece on the BSE, likely as investors were disappointed with the bank’s NIM.
Non-interest income fell 29% to ₹17,314 crore mainly due to losses the bank suffered in its treasury business. The bank had to unwind its forex positions after the RBI late March asked banks to cap their net open rupee positions in offshore markets to $100 million at the end of each business day effective April 10.
That was far lower than the 25% of total capital limits allowed earlier.
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