 "State Bank of India (SBI)")
After hitting $100 billion in market capitalisation (mcap), country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has now set its sights on breaking into the league of Top-10 global banks, SBI Chairman C S Setty said on Thursday.
The market value of SBI surpassed the $100-billion mark for the first time on Thursday. Share of the public sector lender ended at a record high of ₹960.75, up 0.4 per cent over its previous close, days after it reported healthy July-September earnings, with better-than-expected growth in core income, sequential improvement in net interest margin (NIM), and improved asset quality.
During the July-September quarter, SBI — which is ranked at 43 in the list of global banks in terms of assets by S&P — surpassed the ₹100 trillion business mark, the first by any Indian bank. SBI is the only Indian bank in the Top-50 list.
Speaking at the two-day SBI Economic Conclave, Setty said the lender discussed entering the $100 billion mcap ambition shortly after it recorded its first loss in 2018.
“In 2018, SBI posted a loss for the first time in its history. We had a conference in Kolkata. The conference theme was ‘How do you reach $100 billion market capitalisation’,” Setty recollected.
Commenting that it is very important to have a couple of banks in the Top-20, the SBI chairman said: “We have a very large Indian domestic market, which we are serving efficiently. But to be recognised for our work, to be in the Top-10 global banks in terms of market capitalisation is something we look forward to.”
“Market capitalisation is a reflection of a combination of factors of what you are doing right. From an institutional point of view, from stakeholders’ point of view, global recognition is equally important,” he said.
Asked about the timeline for this goal, he said: “There is no specific timeline, but ideally we should be there by even before 2030.”
At the last close, SBI was valued at ₹8.86 trillion ($100 billion), making it the country’s sixth most valuable company. Shares of SBI are up 21 per cent this year. Besides SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are the only two lenders in the $100-billion-plus club. HDFC Bank hit the milestone in July 2023 while ICICI Bank did so in June 2024.
