Punjab National Bank shares trade flat after Q4 profit jumps 52% YoY; check what management said

The country's leading public sector lender on Wednesday reported a net profit of ₹4,567 crore in the January-March quarter, marking an upside of 52% from ₹3,010 crore in the same period last year.

The jump in profit came on the back of sharply lower provisions for non-performing assets (NPA). The Delhi-based lender's provisioning for bad loans fell to ₹588 crore as against provisions of ₹1,958 crore in the year-ago period.

PNB's net interest income, or the difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits, rose 4% annually to ₹10,757 crore from 10,363 crore.

The bank's asset quality showed an improvement in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2025, as its gross NPA, as a percentage of total advances, came in at 3.95% at the end of Q4 compared with 5.73% in the corresponding period last financial year.

In absolute terms, gross NPA came in at ₹44,081.60 crore as against ₹56,343.05 crore in the year-ago period.

Following this, shares of Punjab National Bank were trading down 0.39% at ₹93.88 apiece on NSE.

PNB's net profit in financial year 2024-25 rose 101% to ₹16,630 crore as against ₹8,244.62 crore in financial year 2023-24.

Speaking to the media after the board meeting, PNB MD and CEO Ashok Chandra said the growth in profit can be attributed to overall business growth, recovery in technically written-off accounts and treasury income, among others.

Total business (deposits and advances) of the bank rose to ₹26.83 lakh crore, registering a growth of 14%. Recovery in technically written-off accounts stood at ₹4,926 crore in FY25, while treasury income spiked to ₹4,314 crore from ₹1,157 crore earned in the previous financial year.

He further said the bank expects credit growth of 11-12% while deposits rise by 9-10% in the current financial year.

As far as corporate loans are concerned, he said, it should witness 9-10% growth despite uncertainty over tariffs, with a focus on renewable energy, roads and ports.

Chandra said the bank's capital adequacy ratio remains high at 17%, and therefore there is no need for equity capital during the current financial year.

The bank considered the proposal of raising capital for an amount up to ₹8,000 crore through the issuance of Basel III compliant bonds (Additional Tier-I Bonds up to ₹4,000 crore and Tier-II Bonds up to ₹4,000 crore) to be raised in one or more tranches during FY 2025-26, PNB had said in an exchange filing.

The bank's board has recommended a dividend of ₹2.90 per equity share of a face value of ₹2 each for 2024-25, subject to approval of shareholders.