Third Successive Quarterly Loss

When it rains, it pours. The country's largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), is caught in the provisioning mess. If it was bad loan provisioning eating away its profits earlier, it is now investment depreciation (Mark To Market losses for fall in bond prices) that is applying pressure on SBI's profitability. In the first quarter (April-June) of 2018/19, the bank has reported a loss of Rs 4,875 crore. This is also the third consecutive quarterly loss. The bank clocked a loss of Rs 6,500 crore plus in 2017/18. It, however, appears to have fully provided for both bad loans as well as investment losses. The financial performance will certainly improve from third quarter.

Anand Adhikari