Profit of public sector banks rises 9% to Rs 15,306 crore in April-June

All the 12 public sector banks earned a cumulative profit of about Rs 15,306 crore, registering a 9.2 per cent growth annually, despite poor showing by large lenders like SBI and PNB.

During the April-June period of the previous fiscal, state-owned banks recorded a total profit of Rs 14,013 crore, according to quarterly numbers published by public sector lenders.

Of the total 12, three lenders -- State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India -- reported fall in their profits ranging from 7-70 per cent.

Decline in profit by these lenders has been attributed to Mark-to-Market (MTM) losses due to hardening bond yields.

MTM losses occur when the financial assets held are valued by the market at a price lower than the purchase price.

Nine lenders have recorded profit ranging from 3-117 per cent during the first quarter of FY23. The highest percentage growth was recorded by Pune-based Bank of Maharashtra which earned a profit of Rs 452 crore against Rs 208 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

It was followed by Bank of Baroda which recorded a 79 per cent bottom line growth at Rs 2,168 crore compared to Rs 1,209 crore a year ago.

Despite having witnessed a fall in its profit, SBI remained the highest contributor to the combined profit of banks with Rs 6,068 crore. SBI alone contributed about 40 per cent of the total profit. It was followed by Bank of Baroda with Rs 2,168 crore.

During 2021-22, the collective profit of public sector banks more than doubled to Rs 66,539 crore as against Rs 31,816 crore in the preceding year. In FY21, only two public sector banks (Central Bank and

Punjab & Sind Bank) reported losses, which dragged down the collective net profit.

Many state-owned banks after a hiatus also declared dividend in the last financial year. In all, nine banks including SBI declared dividends of Rs 7,867 crore to shareholders.

There were collective losses recorded in the five straight years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

The highest amount of net loss was registered in 2017-18 at Rs 85,370 crore, followed by Rs 66,636 crore in 2018-19; Rs 25,941 crore in 2019-20; Rs 17,993 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 11,389 crore in 2016-17.