Punjab National Bank logs best ever quarterly profit of ₹5,100 cr in Q3

Punjab National Bank posts its highest-ever quarterly profit in Q3FY26, aided by strong non-interest income, improved asset quality and higher capital adequacy

New Delhi-based Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday reported a 13.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in its net profit at ₹5,100 crore for the third quarter of 2025-26 (Q3FY26). Its net profit was ₹4,508 crore in the year-ago period.

 

The non-interest income of the bank for Q3FY26 stood at ₹5,022 crore, recording a Y-o-Y growth of 47.2 per cent.

 

However, CRAR (capital to risk-weighted assets ratio) increased to 16.77 per cent as on December 31, 2025 from 15.41 per cent as on December 31, 2024, showing an improvement of 136 basis points (bps).

 

This is the highest ever quarterly profit for the bank, which aims for a bottom line in excess of ₹5,000 crore every quarter, PNB Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD&CEO) Ashok Chandra said during a media interaction. The total income increased to ₹37,253 crore from ₹34,752 crore a year ago.

 

 

Similarly, net non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, slipped to 0.32 per cent at the end of Q3FY26 from 0.41 per cent at the end of Q3FY25. Despite a fall in the NPA ratio, provision against bad loans increased over fourfold to ₹1,341 crore from ₹318 crore a year ago. Clarifying the issue, Chandra said the increase was on account of an additional provision of ₹955 crore for meeting ECL (expected credit loss) guidelines that would kick in from April 1, 2027.

 

With regard to recovery from the technically written-off account, Chandra said it has doubled to ₹1,956 crore against ₹823 crore in the year-ago quarter due to recovery in one big account.

 

PNB’s RAM (retail, agriculture, and MSME) advances grew by 11 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹6.62 trillion as on December 31, 2025, compared with ₹5.96 trillion as on December 31, 2024, reflecting steady momentum in priority and granular lending segments. Meanwhile, the CD (credit-deposit) ratio improved to 74.2 per cent as on December 31, 2025 from 72.6 per cent a year earlier, indicating more efficient deployment of deposits into credit, and a healthier balance between resource mobilisation and lending growth.

 

In its regulatory filing, PNB also informed that its digital transactions accounted for 94.86 per cent of the bank’s total transactions in Q3FY26. Moreover, total amount sanctioned and disbursed through digital lending journeys crossed ₹12,672 crore in Q3FY26. Return on Assets (RoA) improved to 1.06 per cent during the quarter from 1.03 per cent in Q3FY25.