Punjab National Bank (PNB) shares closed 4.82% higher on Monday, Oct. 19, after the Indian lender reported a 12.8% rise in quarterly profit and a lower bad-loan ratio.
The stock reached ₹125.22 on the National Stock Exchange, up 7.7% from its previous close of ₹116.30, before finishing at ₹121.90, according to Choice’s NSE price record. The closing gain was smaller than the rise at the intraday peak.
The Economic Times reported that Jefferies and JM Financial raised their PNB price targets to ₹140 a share and that Motilal Oswal had a ₹140 target. Separately, Nirmal Bang Institutional Research upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and set a ₹137 target in its research note, as detailed in earlier coverage of Nirmal Bang’s upgrade.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, PNB said net profit rose to ₹5,532 crore from ₹4,904 crore a year earlier. Net interest income increased 10.8% to ₹11,601 crore. Its global net interest margin widened to 2.58% from 2.50% in the preceding quarter.
Loan quality improved by two measures: The gross nonperforming asset ratio fell to 2.55% from 3.45% a year earlier, while the net ratio declined to 0.25% from 0.36%. Provisions other than tax dropped 84.9% to ₹97 crore.
Other figures were less favorable. Other income fell 17.1% from a year earlier to ₹3,601 crore, and the annualized loan slippage ratio rose to 0.77% from 0.71%.
PNB’s global advances grew 14.7% over the year to Sept. 30, outpacing 9.9% growth in global deposits. Its domestic share of current and savings account deposits stood at 36.6%, below the bank’s 38% fiscal 2027 guidance. The quarter’s 2.58% global net interest margin was also below its fiscal 2027 guidance range of 2.60% to 2.70%. The bank’s next reported margin and deposit figures will show its progress against those targets.
