The country’s largest lender — State Bank of India — has emerged as the most profitable firm after Reliance Industries in FY23, as the lender clocked 41 percent compounded growth in earnings over the last three years. The state-owned lender on Thursday reported a 57 percent year on year (y-o-y) rise in net profit to Rs 55,648 crore for the fiscal 2022-2023, aided by higher net interest income and lower provisions.

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Interestingly, barring Reliance Industries, no other Indian company has ever crossed Rs 50,000 crore in profitability. While the largest company —Reliance Industries reported a net profit of Rs 66,702 crore, the third highest profitable firm —HDFC Bank — posted a net profit of Rs 45,997 crore for the fiscal that ended in March.

On the other hand, ONGC, which is scheduled to announce its Q4 result on May 29, is expected to post a net profit of about Rs 48,000 crore, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.

Commenting on the results, Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of SBI, said, credit growth has been robust for the bank across segments. Our foreign offices have continued to perform well and asset quality have improved over the years. "Gross NPA ratio is the lowest level we have seen in over the last 10 years," Khara added. The bank’s gross NPA ratio has come down to 2.78 percent at the end of March 2023, compared with 3.14 percent a quarter ago.

While RIL has been retaining its numero uno position since FY16, the next three ranks in profitability had been reshuffled between TCS, HDFC Bank, SBI, ONGC and IOC over the past many years, Bloomberg data show

Shares of State Bank of India have had a dream run on the bourses since 2021. The stock of SBI has more than doubled since then against close to 30 percent gains clocked by the benchmark Nifty50 during the same period.

Also Read: SBI posts 83% rise in net profit on improved asset quality, beats Street estimates