Mumbai, May 9 (IANS): State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday reported a 24 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 20,698 crore for the Jan-March quarter of 2023-24 compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 16,695 crore in the same period of the previous year.

The country’s largest bank declared a dividend of Rs 13.70 per share for FY24.

SBI also recorded an improvement in its asset quality during the fourth quarter as gross non-performing assets (GNPA) declined to 2.24 per cent of total loans from 2.78 per cent last year. The net NPA fell to 0.57 per cent compared to 0.67 per cent last year. The overall provisions nearly halved to Rs 1,609 crore from Rs 3,315 crore in the year-ago period.

SBI's interest earned grew 19 per cent to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the fourth quarter from Rs 92,951 crore in the same three-month period last year.

"Credit growth is at 15.24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) with domestic advances growing by 16.26 per cent YoY. Corporate advances and agri advances cross Rs 11 lakh crore and Rs 3 lakh crore, respectively," according to an SBI filing with the stock exchanges.

In Q4FY24, total income rose to Rs 1.28 lakh crore from Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the year-ago period, while operating expenses grew at a relatively slower rate at Rs 30,276 crore from the year-ago period's Rs 29,732 crore.

SBI shares were hovering at around Rs 834 apiece on Thursday afternoon.