Archive · 8 Aug 2026
SBI Remains King as HDFC Bank Closes In on Metrics
Imagine two giant piggy banks in India: State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank.
They keep people's money safe and lend it out.
Both banks just showed their report cards for the first three months of the new financial year.
SBI lent out much more money than before — its loans grew by almost 19 percent.
HDFC Bank's loans grew by about 16 percent, which is also really good.
Both banks made more profit than last year too.
They also got better at collecting money back, with bad loans at very low levels.
SBI's bad loan number is the lowest it has been in over 20 years.
HDFC Bank earns a slightly bigger profit on the money it lends.
The country's central bank, the RBI, kept interest rates the same and thinks India's economy will grow a little faster this year.
SBI's advances grew 18.9% y-o-y to Rs 49.9 lakh crore, outpacing HDFC Bank's 15.6% growth to Rs 30.37 lakh crore.
SBI's standalone net profit rose 10.2% y-o-y to Rs 21,121 crore, while HDFC Bank's profit grew 5% to Rs 19,059 crore amid a 93% jump in tax expenses.
HDFC Bank maintained a higher net interest margin of 3.40% versus SBI's 3%.
Both banks improved asset quality, with net NPA ratios of 0.38% at SBI, its lowest in over 20 years, and 0.41% at HDFC Bank.
SBI's softer FY27 credit growth target of 14-15% disappointed investors, while HDFC Bank appointed Rajiv Kumar as part-time chairman to address governance concerns.
- Who
- State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, and HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank, along with investors and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
- What
- A comparative analysis of the two banks' Q1 FY27 results covering credit growth, deposits, net interest margins, asset quality, profits and valuations
- When
- For the June 2026 quarter (Q1 FY27); SBI declared its results on Friday
- Where
- India
- Why
- Investors wanted to assess the banks' operational performance and the local impact of the Middle East crisis amid the RBI's lower interest rate policy
- SBI loan growth
- 18.9% y-o-y to Rs 49.9 lakh crore
- HDFC Bank loan growth
- 15.6% y-o-y to Rs 30.37 lakh crore
- SBI standalone net profit
- Rs 21,121 crore, up 10.2% y-o-y
- HDFC Bank standalone net profit
- Rs 19,059 crore, up 5% y-o-y
- Net NPA ratio
- SBI 0.38% vs HDFC Bank 0.41% (both 0.47% a year earlier)
- Net interest margin
- SBI 3% vs HDFC Bank 3.40% (on interest earning assets)
- RBI repo rate
- 5.25%, unchanged
- RBI FY27 GDP growth forecast
- Raised to 6.7% from 6.6%