SBI shares slip further over poor earnings

Shares of the country's largest state-owned lender, SBI, fell by by over 3% on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, hit by its poor fourth quarter performance.

SBI plunged by 3.41% to a one-month low of Rs 2,360.75 on the BSE in early trade today. It was quoting at Rs 2,340.90 at 1316 hrs, down 3.01% from the previous close.

During the last two trading sessions, the stock has nosedived by over 12%.

The scrip took a similar beating on the National Stock Exchange, where it tanked by 3.34% to Rs 2,334.

Marketmen attributed the downslide in the stock to its disappointing fourth quarter earnings and the decision of three major brokerage firms -- Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs -- to slash their target price for SBI.

Yesterday, SBI reported a 99% drop in net profit to Rs 20.8 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2011, pulled down by higher provisioning against bad loans and increased tax outgo.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up by 22.94 points at 18,160.29 at 1348 hours today.