SBI Q3 net profit plunges 35% over pension provision

Mumbai: State Bank of India reported a 35% drop in net profit for the quarter ended December 2023 following a one-time exceptional provision of Rs 7,100 crore, comprising Rs 5,700 crore for pensions and the rest for salaries. SBI reported a net profit of Rs 9,164 crore for the quarter ended December 2023 compared to Rs 14,205 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.The higher pension provisions follow a court decision requiring SBI to correct an anomaly where a section of the staff received a pension at the rate of 40% of salary, while the rest received 50%.
Responding to a query, SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said the bank would be keen on taking over Paytm’s merchants and merchant Bank accounts. “We have a subsidiary, SBI Payments, which does the merchant acquiring while the bank can provide the bank accounts for the merchants,” he said. He added that the bank was open to acquiring these accounts individually or through a one-time migration. tnn