Setty said SBI expects its net interest margin (NIM) to remain above 3% during the current financial year, while credit growth is likely to stay in the 13–15% range, supported by a corporate loan pipeline of more than ₹5 trillion.
“I still feel that we fulfilled the guided number. Our exit NIM guidance was above 3%, and I think that has been fulfilled,” Setty said. “Our guidance in terms of NIM being about 3% still holds good for the current financial year, and we have no concern in terms of managing those margins.”
The comments come after SBI reported mixed March quarter results on Friday. Net Interest Income (NII), or core income, rose 4.1% year-on-year to ₹44,381 crore, missing the CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of ₹46,487.4 crore. Net profit increased 5.6% from a year earlier to ₹19,684 crore, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of ₹19,455.4 crore.
Setty attributed the pressure on NII partly to the impact of the repo rate cut that took effect during the quarter, along with an improvement in the bank’s external benchmark-linked lending rate (EBLR) portfolio.
“The NII impact in Q4 was essentially because there was a repo rate cut on December 15 last year, and that has been fully factored into Q4,” he said.
Despite concerns around margins, SBI remains optimistic on loan growth across segments including retail, agriculture, MSME and corporate banking. Setty said the bank has not seen any withdrawal of planned corporate capital expenditure commitments.
“Corporate has a pipeline of more than ₹5 trillion, both in terms of unutilised working capital limits as well as undrawn term loans and term loans that are under discussion in the pipeline,” he said.
He added that the existing pipeline itself provides visibility on future corporate credit growth and gives the bank confidence that its FY27 loan growth guidance is achievable, provided geopolitical tensions in West Asia do not persist for a prolonged period.
On asset quality, Setty said the bank remains comfortable despite reporting a rise in quarterly slippages. He noted that around ₹850 crore worth of slippages had subsequently been pulled back.
“There is no concern at this juncture in terms of asset quality,” he said, adding that SBI continues to guide for credit costs of around 50 basis points for the current financial year.
SBI’s gross non-performing asset ratio improved to 1.49% in the March quarter from 1.57% in the December quarter, while net NPA remained unchanged at 0.39%.
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The lender’s pre-provisioning operating profit declined 16% sequentially to ₹27,704 crore from ₹32,862 crore in the previous quarter. Provisions fell to ₹2,872 crore from ₹4,507 crore in the December quarter, while other income declined to ₹17,314 crore from ₹24,367 crore a year earlier.
Setty also ruled out the need for any immediate equity capital raising, saying the bank’s current capital adequacy ratio of over 15% is sufficient to support future expansion.
“Even the current CRAR above 15% gives us the ability to fund almost ₹12 trillion of credit growth,” he said. “I don’t see any reason why we need to access the market.”
