SBI looking at higher profits in FY12, plans expansion abroad

BHUBANESWAR: Country’s largest state-owned lender SBI on Tuesday said its profit this fiscal will surpass that of last year, and announced plans to expand operations overseas through subsidiaries including one in Australia.

“With very good net interest income, the bank during the current fiscal should be able to outperform its earlier profit level which ranged from Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters here.

During 2010-11, SBI’s profit had plunged to Rs 8,265 crore, registering a decline of 9.84 per cent from that of the previous year.

Stating that the interest margin was an impressive 3.8 per cent, Chaudhuri said though SBI’s profit during the first quarter of the current fiscal was restricted to Rs 1,550 crore, it rose substantially to Rs 2,850 crore in the second quarter.

Unveiling plans for expansion of overseas operations, Chaudhuri said SBI was set to have a subsidiary in Australia within a year and has proposals for expansion in the US and Britain. Similarly, concrete steps had been taken for opening two branches in Bangladesh by the bank which had already launched operations in countries like Quatar and Saudi Arabia, he said.

Listing some facilities being initiated by SBI, Chaudhuri said all cheque books to over 15 crore customers would now be multi-city cheques valid in all the branches spread over the country. Besides, a mediclaim policy and accidental insurance cover would be provided to savings bank account holders in 2-3 months, he added.

Maintaining that SBI would remain unaffected by 2G spectrum episode, Chaudhuri said the telecom companies whose licences were hit would be able to pay back the loan amount. Their total exposure is about Rs 3,000 crore.

On the cancellation of Rs 14,000 crore loans by Indian Oil Corporation, he said that for the last about three years such experience was being faced but it would not affect the overall performance of the bank. Stating that some organisations opt for obtaining loan in dollars as the interest rate is lower, Chaudhure said SBI was also ready to provide loan in dollars. (PTI)