PSU banks gain post SBI Q4 results; Nifty PSU Bank index surges 5%

Shares of public sector banks have rallied by upto 6% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after State Bank of India (SBI), the largest state-owned bank, reported a net loss of Rs 77.18 billion in March quarter (Q4FY18) due to higher provisioning for bad loans. The bank had net loss of Rs 34.42 billion in the same quarter last fiscal.

Net interest income were down 5% at Rs 199.74 billion, a lower than expected, as against Rs 210.65 billion in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. Net interest margin improved to 2.5% from 2.45% in December quarter.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets ratio (gross NPA as a percentage of advances) stood at 10.91% in Q4FY18 against 10.35% in December quarter. The bank’s net NPA during the quarter under review was at 5.73% against 5.61% in previous quarter.

SBI has moved higher by 6% to Rs 260, bouncing back 8% from early morning low of Rs 241 on the NSE. Punjab National Bank (PNB), Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Allahabad Bank were up in the range of 3% to 6% on the NSE.

At 02:11 pm; Nifty PSU Bank index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 4.5% at 2,850 points as compared to 0.18% rise in the Nifty 50 index. The PSU bank index surged 5.4% from its intra-day high level of 2,876.