One out of 5 associate banks can be merged in FY'14: SBI Chief

SBI has formed a committee headed by SBI Managing Director S Vishwanathan to prepare a report on merger of associate banks

State Bank of India (SBI) today said it is in a position to merge one of the five associate banks in the current fiscal.

"Right now we are in a position to merge one of the subsidiaries in the current fiscal. Which one will depend on the committee report. It can happen in the third or the fourth quarter," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said here.

SBI has formed a high-powered committee headed by SBI Managing Director S Vishwanathan to prepare a report on merger of associate banks.

The panel is expected to submit its report by the end of this month.

SBI did first ever amalgamation of its associate State Bank of Saurashtra in 2008, followed by State Bank of Indore in August 2010.

The country's largest lender has five associate banks -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.

Among these, the State Banks of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed companies.

Talking about the margin, Chaudhuri said, he expects the net interest margin (NIM) to be about 3.6%.

NIM of the bank as on March 2013 stood at 3.34% as against 3.85% in the previous fiscal.

The net interest income of the bank in the June quarter has been good, he said, adding, the fee income of the bank has also seen a rise along with treasury gains.