The State Bank of India (SBI), the largest public sector lender, informed on Tuesday that its board has cleared a proposal to raise up to $3 billion in long-term funds in the 2025–26 financial year.
As per the exchange filing, the Central Board's Executive Committee sanctioned looking into and going ahead with long-term fund-raising "in single/multiple tranches of up to $3 billion under Reg-S/144A, by way of a public issue and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US dollar or any other leading foreign currency in FY 2025-26."
SBI indicated that the funding can be raised in one or more than one round, either through public offerings or private placements of non-secured instruments. The move is part of the bank's overall strategy to obtain low-cost funds to finance both Indian and overseas lending activities.
Previously, SBI had also revealed intentions to raise up to ₹25,000 crore in FY26 through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) or a follow-on public offering (FPO).
Financially, SBI posted a standalone net profit of ₹18,642.59 crore during the fourth quarter of FY25, down 10% year-on-year from ₹20,698.35 crore of the corresponding period of the previous year.
Nonetheless, overall income in the quarter increased strongly to ₹1,43,876 crore from ₹1,28,412 crore in Q4FY24.
The bank also experienced a strengthening of asset quality. Gross NPAs dipped to 1.82% of total advances in Q4FY25, from 2.24% as of March 2024 end. Similarly, net NPAs dipped to 0.47% from 0.57%.
SBI’s net interest income (NII) came in at ₹42,774 crore during the quarter. For the full financial year, operating profit rose 17.89% year-on-year to ₹1,10,579 crore, surpassing the ₹1 lakh crore milestone. Operating profit for the fourth quarter alone increased by 8.83% to ₹31,286 crore.
As far as shareholder returns are concerned, the bank has announced a dividend of ₹15.90 per equity share (amounting to 1,590%). The record date for the dividend has been fixed for May 16, and payments are to be made on May 30, 2025.
Even with the announcements, SBI stock closed Tuesday's trading session lower by 1.2%, at ₹785.35 on the BSE.
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