State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has reported a 14.4% rise in net profit to Rs 5,225 crore in the fiscal fourth-quarter ended March compared to Rs 4,567 crore a year ago.

The bank's total income, however, fell to Rs 36,319 crore in the March quarter from Rs 36,705 crore in the same quarter last year.

Operating profit rose 10.7% to Rs 7,500 crore in Q4FY26 versus Rs 6,776 crore in Q4FY25.

Net interest income (NII) declined 3.5% to Rs 10,380 crore from Rs 10,757 crore.

Domestic net interest margin (NIM) in Q4FY26 was 2.61% compared to 2.96% a year ago. Global NIM stood at 2.47% in Q4FY26 compared to 2.81% YoY.

Asset quality improves

On the asset quality front, the bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) improved to 2.95% of gross advances as against 3.95% by the end of March 2025. Sequentially, it stood at 3.19%.

Similarly, net NPAs fell to 0.29% from 0.4% a year ago and 0.32% a quarter ago.

The slippage ratio was 0.94% in the March quarter compared to 1.14% a year ago.

Total business

The bank’s global business stood at Rs 29.70 lakh crore, up 10.7% year-on-year. The domestic business grew nearly 10% to Rs 28.45 lakh crore.

Loan growth

The bank’s loan book grew 12.7% YoY to Rs 12.59 lakh crore, for the quarter ended March 2026, despite Rs 18,231 crore reduction in IBPC exposure.

Out of the total advances, Rs 11.93 lakh crore came from the domestic loan book, which was up 11.9% YoY.

The RAM advances grew 12.1% YoY to Rs 6.76 lakh crore.

The RAM share in the domestic loan mix was at 56.6%. Corporate loans accounted for a 43.4% share as on 31 March 2026.

Retail credit grew 8.3% YoY to Rs 2.81 lakh crore, while agriculture was up 10.7% to Rs 2 lakh crore and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) rose 19.9% to Rs 1.95 lakh crore. 

Excluding IBPC, retail credit grew 18.2% YoY to Rs 2.52 lakh crore from Rs 2.13 lakh crore a year ago. The MSME segment saw a growth of 19.9% and agri priority sector of 16.2%.

Within the retail segment, home loan grew 11.6% to Rs 1.30 lakh crore while vehicle loan was up 35.1% to Rs 35,199 crore and education loan up 6.1% to Rs 9,070 crore.

Deposit growth

The bank’s deposits grew 9.2% YoY to Rs 17.11 lakh crore as on 31 March 2026, out of which Rs 16.49 lakh crore came from domestic deposits.

The current account deposits stood at Rs 79,294 crore, up 5.6% from Rs 75,114 crore in March 2025. Savings deposits rose 6.4% YoY to Rs 53,0321 crore as on 31 March 2026. Total term deposits grew 10.9% YoY to Rs 11.02 lakh crore.

The share of low-cost CASA (current account savings account) deposits narrowed to 37% at the end of March 2026 from 38% in the earlier year. 

The board also recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per equity share for FY 2025-26, 

Guidance for FY27

PNB has guided credit growth at 12-13% for FY27 compared to 12.7% achieved in FY26.

Deposit growth should move in the 9-10% range, almost similar to 9.2% reported in FY26. The CASA share is projected to inch up to 38% in FY27 from 37% in FY26. 

NII is expected to see a 7% YoY rise in FY27. Though the bank had guided NII growth at 7% in FY26 too, it actually de-grew by 1.9% YoY.

NIM has targeted NIM at 2.60%-2.70% in FY27. In FY26, the bank's NIM stood at 2.57% against the guidance of 2.8% - 2.9%.

The bank expects its operating profit to rise by 9%-10% YoY in FY27. While it had guided for 8-9% YoY growth in FY26, it ended up doing better with the operating profit rising by 9.2% YoY.

The bank has guided gross NPA to stay below 2.50% in FY27, improving from 2.95% in FY26. 

Net NPA is expected to stay below 0.3% in FY27. In FY26, it ended up at 0.29% against the guidance of 0.35%.

The bank is targeting the recovery amount from bad loans to be over Rs 13,000 crore in FY27. While it had guided for a recovery of Rs 16,000 crore in FY26, it achieved to get Rs 15,501 crore.