SBI Life and Metro Brands in focus today amid expected interim dividend announcement

Shares of SBI Life Insurance Company and Metro Brands will be in focus on Friday, February 28, 2025, as their respective Boards of Directors are set to meet to consider and declare interim dividends for the financial year 2024-25.

SBI Life Insurance to Consider Interim Dividend

In an exchange filing dated February 24, 2025, SBI Life Insurance stated that its Board of Directors would meet on February 28, 2025, to consider the payment of an interim dividend on equity shares for FY25.

If the board approves the dividend, the record date for determining shareholders eligible to receive the payout has been set for Friday, March 7, 2025.

Notably, in 2024, SBI Life declared a single interim dividend of ₹2.70 per equity share on March 15. Since April 3, 2018, the company has announced a total of six dividends.

Metro Brands to Also Discuss Dividend Announcement

Metro Brands also confirmed in a regulatory filing that its Board of Directors will convene on February 28, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. to deliberate on the declaration of an interim dividend for FY25, if any.

In 2024, Metro Brands declared two interim dividends— ₹2.75 per share in May and ₹2.25 per share in September.

Financial Performances

SBI Life Insurance posted a net profit of ₹550.82 crore in Q3 FY25, reflecting a robust 71 percent surge from ₹321.75 crore in the corresponding period last year, exceeding market expectations.

This growth was primarily fueled by an 11 percent increase in net premium income to ₹24,828 crore, driven by a 14 percent rise in new business premiums, which reached ₹1,446.76 crore. The insurer maintains a solvency ratio of 2.04, comfortably exceeding the regulatory requirement.

However, total income saw a significant decline to ₹18,542 crore, compared to ₹38,803 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, the footwear retailer Metro Brands reported a 3.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit at ₹95 crore for the quarter ending December 31, 2024.

The Profit After Tax (PAT) includes a one-time tax charge of ₹25 crore arising from tax reconciliation and reassessment, primarily related to the Fila business.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of ₹98.8 crore. However, revenue from operations grew 10.6 percent YoY, reaching ₹703 crore compared to ₹635.5 crore in the previous year.

Stock Performances

SBI Life Insurance has declined over 4 percent in the last one year. So far in February 2025, the stock has fallen around 1 percent, after registering a 7 percent gain in January.

Metro Brands has gained 3.5 percent over the past year. However, the stock has been in a downtrend for three consecutive months, losing 2 percent in February, 3 percent in January, and 1.5 percent in December.

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