SBI Beats Recession

The global financial crisis has done collateral damage to many except few and, State Bank of India (SBI) is one among those few exceptional banking institutions. SBI is India's largest lender and has recorded a growth of 1.5% in its share of deposits (in FY09) from that in the previous fiscal.

The total deposits raised by all commercial banks in India by end March 2009 is worth US$ 818.57 bn out of which the SBI group raised US$ 197.67 bn. In a year when growth was unimaginable SBI group has emerged victorious, despite of the gruelling slowdown.

It's another way to exhibit that the Indian banking system is standing tall among the ruins - not just because of inaction!!

Slumdogs Are No Underdogs

The laurels that A. R. Rehman, Gulzar & Resul Pookutty brought to India at the centrestage of the Academy Awards function have enthralled every conscious Indian. We may have had loads of criticism against the portrayal of India's poverty and wretched condition of life of its slum-dwellers in this movie, but we cannot detach ourselves from dousing in the celebration for the victors who are very much Indian.

This is not the end of the story; India have once again proven her worth in another field - banking. Our very own State Bank of India (fondly known as SBI) have superseded Citigroup's market capitalisation to be among the largest banks in the world. The market capitalisation of SBI on Friday closed at Rs. 66,285 crore. This is around 25% more than the closing market capitalisation of Citigroup on the NYSE on Friday. The market capitalisation of Citigroup was Rs. 52,931 crore.

Though Citigroup's revenue in the last four quarters is almost eleven times more than the revenue earned by SBI, its profits are nowhere near the figures earned by SBI. While Citigroup has suffered losses of Rs. 83,474 crore in the last four quarters, SBI has booked profits of Rs. 8,262 crore. Martin Hutchinson, an economic commentator, recently put out a list on the status of the 12 largest banks in the US. He categorised Citi as a zombie bank. “Citi has been a serial flirter with bankruptcy over the past 30 years and remains a basket case,” he wrote.