MUMBAI: The State Bank of India's associates reported a 34% rise in net profit in the quarter ended March compared with the previous fiscal , even as the country's largest lender's net plummeted due to higher provisioning for bad loans and pension & gratuity liabilities. Consolidated net profit of the five associate banks of SBI stood at Rs 1,264.70 crore in the fourth quarter, compared with Rs 939.46 crore a year ago.
"Associates were not under-providing , while the parent may have been under-providing for bad loans," said Hemindra Hazari, head of research at Nirmal Bang Institutional Research. SBI on Tuesday shocked markets with a 99% decline in fourth quarter net profit to Rs 21 crore. Newly appointed chairman Pratip Chaudhuri assured investors that this was a one-time quarter with one-off provisioning that will not appear in subsequent quarters. For the full fiscal ended March 2011, consolidated net profit of SBI group — including associates , subsidiaries and SBI — stood at Rs 10,685 crore, down from Rs 11,734 crore a year ago.
