{"id":25092,"date":"2026-04-27T16:14:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trending.niftytrader.in\/?p=25092"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:52:13","slug":"sbi-cards-q4-profit-up-14-gnpa-falls-241","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/sbi-cards-q4-profit-up-14-gnpa-falls-241\/","title":{"rendered":"SBI Cards Q4 Profit Up 14% to \u20b9609 Cr; GNPA Falls to 2.41%"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SBI<\/a> Cards and Payment Services posted a net profit of \u20b9609 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, up 14% from \u20b9534 crore in Q4 FY25, as the company’s board approved the audited results on April 27, 2026. Revenue from operations rose 6% year-on-year to \u20b94,934 crore from \u20b94,674 crore in the same period last year, per the company’s BSE filing. Total income grew 7% to \u20b95,187 crore while total expenses rose 6% to \u20b94,371 crore during the quarter. The result came in above Motilal Oswal’s pre-results estimate of \u20b9587 crore but below Axis Securities’ forecast of \u20b9634 crore, a modest beat at the lower end of expectations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A Recovery From a Difficult Base<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The 14% profit growth needs to be placed in context. Q4 FY25 had been a trough quarter; net profit declined 19% YoY to \u20b9534 crore, hit by a surge in delinquencies, higher provisioning, and rising impairments. The Q4 FY26 recovery, therefore, reflects credit cost normalisation rather than a structural growth acceleration. The quarterly trajectory through FY26 tells the fuller story: Q1 FY26 saw profit fall 6.4% YoY to \u20b9556 crore, with credit cost spiking to 9.6%, a 16-quarter high for \u00a0before a sharp rebound in Q3 FY26, when profit surged 45% YoY to \u20b9557 crore on lower provisioning. Q4’s \u20b9609 crore now represents the highest quarterly profit of FY26 and confirms a sustained recovery arc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Full Year FY26 Performance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For the full financial year FY26, SBI Cards’ net profit grew 13% to \u20b92,167 crore from \u20b91,916 crore in FY25, per the company’s press release. Revenue from operations rose 10% to \u20b919,900 crore, total income climbed 11% to \u20b920,708 crore, and total expenses grew 11% to \u20b917,794 crore. Analysts had estimated an 8.8% credit cost for FY26 overall, with an average of 7.5% modelled for FY27\u201328 as the balance sheet clean-up completes. The full-year numbers are consistent with that normalisation thesis playing out on schedule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Asset Quality: The Quarter’s Standout Metric<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The most significant improvement in Q4 FY26 was in asset quality. The GNPA ratio fell 67 basis points year-on-year to 2.41%, a sharp recovery from 3.08% as of March 2025 and 2.86% in December 2025, per company filings. Net NPA also improved during the quarter, per the press release. Return on assets (ROA) rose 29 basis points YoY to 3.6%, directly reflecting the lower provisioning burden. In the Q3 FY26 concall, MD and CEO Salila Pande had explained that a \u20b9121 crore provision was deliberately not written back to reduce volatility in credit costs and profit numbers until a model refresh was completed. The GNPA improvement to 2.41% in Q4 suggests that the model refresh is now yielding cleaner outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The capital adequacy ratio strengthened to 25.5% from 22.9% a year ago, with Tier 1 capital at 20% well above the RBI’s mandatory 15% floor. For comparison, CRAR had stood at 24.4% in Q3 FY26 with Tier 1 at 19.1%; the sequential improvement indicates the balance sheet is strengthening quarter-on-quarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Spends: A 195% Corporate Jump That Demands Explanation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Total card spends rose 31% YoY to \u20b91,15,350 crore in Q4 FY26. However, the headline conceals a sharp divergence between two segments. Corporate spending jumped 195% YoY to \u20b925,564 crore, while retail spending grew a more modest 13% YoY to \u20b989,786 crore but declined 2% sequentially, signalling some softening in the core consumer segment. The math checks out: \u20b989,786 crore plus \u20b925,564 crore equals exactly \u20b91,15,350 crore. In the Q3 FY26 concall, CFO Rashmi Mohanty had indicated that corporate spends were expected to be maintained at around 20% of overall spend. At Q4 FY26 levels, corporate spends now account for over 22% of total spends above that guidance band. Whether this reflects a deliberate strategic push into the corporate segment or a one-time surge requires clarification from the April 27 concall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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RBI data published on April 26, 2026, shows that industry-wide credit card spending rose 12% in FY26 to \u20b923.62 trillion, with March 2026 spending touching a three-month high of \u20b92.19 trillion. SBI Cards’ own March spends rose 24.43% month-on-month to \u20b942,441 crore. This suggests Q4 ended on a strong footing for SBI Cards even as the full-quarter retail number moderated sequentially.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NIM Contracts, Cost-to-Income Rises<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Net interest margin contracted 10 basis points YoY to 11.1% in Q4 FY’26, a continuation of gradual margin erosion seen across recent quarters. NIM had stood at 11.0% in Q3 FY26, 11.2% in Q2 FY26, and 11.2% in Q1 FY26, indicating a flattish but slightly declining trend through the year. The cost-to-income ratio jumped 589 basis points YoY to 57.2%, rising from 56.8% in Q3 FY26. Management had guided for a cost-to-income ratio in the 55\u201357% range for the full year, with acknowledgement that festival quarters could temporarily push it to 59\u201360%. At 57.2% for Q4, the company is at the upper boundary of its own guidance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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New Accounts: 17% Decline, Barely Within Guidance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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New account additions fell 17% YoY to 9.17 lakh in Q4 FY26. Management had publicly guided for a quarterly run rate of 9\u201310 lakh new accounts,\u00a0meaning Q4 scraped the absolute floor of that target. In the Q1 FY26 concall, MD Salila Pande had emphasised a deliberate focus on quality over quantity in new acquisitions, citing cautious underwriting as delinquencies from earlier cohorts worked through the system. That caution is consistent with the new account numbers, but the 17% YoY decline will concern investors tracking medium-term revenue growth, since new accounts today are the receivables base of tomorrow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The consequence is visible in market share. SBI Cards’ total cards in force grew just 6.12% YoY to 22.10 million as of March 2026. In comparison, HDFC Bank’s card base grew 10.37% YoY to 26.31 million, ICICI Bank’s rose 4.62% to 19.05 million, and Axis Bank’s increased 7.56% to 16.03 million. SBI Cards’ card market share contracted to 18.6% in FY26 from 19% in FY25, ceding ground to HDFC Bank, which holds approximately 22% of the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Competitive and Regulatory Backdrop<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SBI Cards operates in a market that is growing but increasingly competitive. The industry grew cautious over rising delinquencies, and card issuance growth slowed to around 8% YoY as of March 2026, compared to 19% YoY growth at end-March 2024. Private banks HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank added aggressively in early 2026, with HDFC Bank alone adding 155,000 net new cards in February 2026, maintaining its 22% market share.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The RBI introduced stricter rules from 2026 covering billing transparency, customer consent for credit limit changes, penalty structures, and data security via tokenisation. These regulations affect all issuers equally but add compliance costs. Meanwhile, SBI Card has been actively building its co-branded portfolio, launching cards with Tata Neu, Apollo, Bank of Maharashtra, PhonePe, Flipkart, and IndiGo\u2014a strategy aimed at building spend-active customer segments rather than relying on volume issuance alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Stock Reaction and What the Concall Must Answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Shares traded at approximately \u20b9664, marginally lower after the results, reflecting investor ambivalence toward a quarter that improved on credit quality but showed softness in new account acquisition and retail spends. The stock has declined 22.7% over the past year,\u00a0and a 14% profit growth quarter alone is unlikely to trigger a re-rating. Analysts have upgraded SBI Cards to ‘Accumulate’ with a target price of \u20b91,006, modelling a 9.5\u201310% cards-in-force CAGR, a 25% spends CAGR, and a 15% loan CAGR during FY25\u201328, implying an ROA of 4.5% and an ROE of 20.6% by FY28.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Three specific questions the April 27 conference call must answer: What drove the 195% corporate spends surge\u00a0 strategic programme or a one-time event? Is management maintaining the 9\u201310 lakh quarterly new account guidance for FY27? And with cost-to-income at 57.2%, where does the company see that ratio normalising as the balance sheet clean-up completes?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also Read: UltraTech Q4 Profit Up 20%, Declares \u20b9240 Dividend<\/a><\/p>\n

FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Did SBI Cards beat analyst estimates for Q4 FY26?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Partially. The \u20b9609 crore profit beat Motilal Oswal’s estimate of \u20b9587 crore but missed Axis Securities’ \u20b9634 crore forecast.<\/p>\n

What is SBI Cards’ GNPA as of March 2026?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

GNPA improved to 2.41% \u2014 down 67 basis points from 3.08% a year ago and 2.86% in December 2025.<\/p>\n

Why did SBI Cards’ new account additions fall in Q4 FY26?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

New accounts declined 17% YoY to 9.17 lakh. Management commentary from the April 27 concall is awaited to clarify whether this is deliberate tightening or demand softness.<\/p>\n

What is SBI Cards’ market share in credit cards?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Market share slipped to 18.6% in FY26 from 19% in FY25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SBI Cards and Payment Services posted a net profit of \u20b9609 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, up 14% from \u20b9534 crore in Q4 FY25, as the company’s board approved the audited results on April 27, 2026. Revenue from operations rose 6% year-on-year to \u20b94,934 crore from \u20b94,674 crore in the same period […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[615],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1523],"class_list":{"0":"post-25092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stock-market-news"}," _eael_post_view_count":0,"authors":[{"term_id":1523,"user_id":11,"is_guest":0,"slug":"nikki","display_name":"Nikki Lodha","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae2e265bd56e0e890c866fbaa55d29846ba20cc5372adf666652268816af117e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25092"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25101,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25092\/revisions\/25101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25092"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=25092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}