SBI posts Rs 24.16 billion quarterly loss for first time in nearly 19 years

Loss mainly due to RBI-mandated reclassification of corporate loans

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, posted a quarterly loss for the first time in nearly 19 years — of Rs 24.16 billion in the December quarter of 2017-18 — owing to a sizeable increase in provisioning for bad loans.

This came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked the lender to reclassify some corporate loans as non-performing assets (NPAs). 

The net loss came as a surprise, given that the street was expecting the bank to post a net profit of Rs 19 billion, as predicted by a Bloomberg poll of analysts. The bank also provided for mark-to-market