Net income of India’s largest bank falls 21%

Five other large banks also affected.

The State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, saw its net income for the fiscal year fall 21 percent, and analysts observe that it is partly to blame for the recorded poor performance of India’s six biggest banks in the same time period.

According to a release from SNL Financial, profit at the six largest Indian banks—State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and HDFC Bank Ltd. —declined year over year in the fiscal year ended March 31.

The release noted that aggregate net profit attributable to the parent companies fell 3% to 455.63 billion Indian rupees from 469.68 billion rupees a year earlier, and that the decrease is attributable to State Bank of India’s poor performance, as well as to Punjab National Bank, which saw net income drop 27% year over year.

While State Bank of India's operating income grew 31% to 1.057 trillion rupees during the year, its operating expenses jumped 61% to 633.69 billion rupees. The company's total asset write-downs also rose to 207.7 billion rupees in the fiscal year from 150.47 billion rupees in the previous year.