State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday posted a 27.9% increase in its net profit for the second quarter of the financial year.

What Happened: India’s biggest bank by revenue said its net profit went up to ₹18,331.44 crore in the quarter ended September, compared with the ₹14,330.02 crore it posted a year ago. The figure was ahead of analyst estimates of ₹16,858.3 crore, based on an average of six brokerages.

Meanwhile, the lender’s net interest income, the difference between the interest a bank earns on loans and what it pays out on deposits, came in at ₹41,619.54 crore, up 5.4% from the ₹39,499.96 crore it logged last year. The figure was slightly lower than analyst estimates of ₹41,775.7 crore.

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Public sector banks have outpaced private lenders in terms of profit growth so far this earnings season as provisions see a sharp drop and public lenders improve operations. However, private banks have been able to grow advances at a faster clip and maintain stronger current account savings account (CASA) ratios.

The public sector bank’s net non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to 0.53% compared with 0.64% in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, gross non-performing assets eased to 2.13% from 2.55%.

SBI’s net interest margin stood at 3.14% for the quarter, rising 16 basis points from the 3.3% posted a year ago. The figure was largely in line with estimates of 3.2%.

Deposits grew at 9.13% year on year, out of which CASA deposits grew 4.24%. Its CASA ratio stood at 40.03% as of September 30. Meanwhile, credit grew 14.93% to ₹39.21 lakh crore, with domestic advances growing 15.55%.

Price Action: SBI’s share price was trading 1.13% lower at ₹849.90 in afternoon trade on Friday. The stock has gained over 32% so far this year.

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