In the current context, where several companies are posting mixed financials during this market, there are notable gems of Indian PSUs that delivered good returns as per market expectations. In this article, we will establish a detailed comparison between these two giant PSUs.
Financial Highlights
Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a net interest income of Rs 42,782 crores in FY25, marking a 6.7 percent increase from Rs 40,083 crores in FY24. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the bank earned Rs 10,757 crores in Q4 FY25, up by 3.8 percent from Rs 10,363 crores in Q4 FY24. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, net interest income declined by 2.49 percent from Rs 11,032 crores in Q3 FY25.
The bank posted a net profit of Rs 16,630 crores in FY25, up by 101.7 percent from Rs 8,245 crores in FY24. On a YoY basis, net profit rose by 51 percent to Rs 4,567 crores in Q4 FY25 from Rs 3,010 crores in Q4 FY24. On a QoQ basis, it increased by 1.31 percent from Rs 4,508 crores in Q3 FY25. As of March 2025, PNB’s net interest margin (NIM) stood at 2.93 percent, down from 3.09 percent a year earlier.
Union Bank of India reported a net interest income of Rs 37,214 crores in FY25, up by 1.76 percent from its FY24 income of Rs 36,570 crores. On a year-on-year basis, it reported an income of Rs 9,514 crores in Q4 FY25, up by 0.82 percent from Rs 9,437 crores in Q4 FY24. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it increased by 2.96 percent from Rs 9,240 crores.
It posted a net profit of Rs 17,987 crores in FY25, up by 31.79 percent from its FY24 net profit of Rs 13,648 crores. On a year-on-year basis, it reported a net profit of Rs 4,985 crores in Q4 FY25, up by 51 percent from Rs 3,311 crores in Q4 FY24. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it increased by 8.28 percent from Rs 4,604 crores. Its NIM stands at 2.91 percent in FY25 as compared to 3.10 percent in FY24.
Deposits and Advances
Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a strong performance in terms of deposits and advances for the year ended March 2025. Deposits grew by 14.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 15,66,623 crores in March 2025, up from Rs 13,69,713 crores in March 2024. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, deposits increased by 2.4 percent from Rs 15,29,699 crores in December 2024. Within this, CASA (Current Account Savings Account) deposits rose by 3.8 percent YoY to Rs 5,73,543 crores in Q4 FY25, compared to Rs 5,52,499 crores in Q4 FY24.
Advances also recorded a healthy rise, increasing by 13.6 percent YoY to Rs 11,16,637 crores in March 2025 from Rs 9,83,325 crores in March 2024. On a QoQ basis, advances were up 0.6 percent, from Rs 11,10,292 crores. Meanwhile, loan write-offs declined significantly to Rs 12,159 crores in FY25, compared to Rs 16,257 crores in FY24, reflecting improved asset quality management.
UBI’s Deposits grew by 7.22 percent YoY to Rs 13,09,750 crores in March 2025 from Rs 12,21,528 crores in March 2024. On a QoQ basis, it grew by 7.66 percent from Rs 12,16,562 crores. Its CASA deposits grew by 3.95% to Rs. 4,26,325 crores in Q4 FY25 as compared to Rs. 4,10,134 Crores a year ago.
Advances also grew by 8.62 percent YoY to Rs 9,82,894 crores in March 2025 from Rs 9,04,884 crores in March 2024. On a QoQ basis, it grew by 3.55 percent from Rs 9,49,164 crores. Provisions for non-performing assets increased to 7,308 crores in FY25 from Rs 6,387 crores a year ago.
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Asset Quality
PNB’s GNPA% drastically improved to 3.95 percent in March 2025 as compared to 5.73 percent a year ago. Its NNPA also improved to 0.40 percent in March 2025 as compared to 0.73 percent a year ago. It has a slippage ratio of 1.14 percent as compared to 0.98 percent a year earlier.
As of March 2025, its Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio saw a surge to 17.01 percent from 15.97 percent. Bank’s ROA improved by 25 bps on a YoY basis to 1.02 percent & ROE improved by 275 bps on a YoY basis to 19.23 percent during FY25.
UBI’s GNPA drastically improved to 3.60 percent in March 2025 as compared to 4.76 percent a year ago. Its NNPA also improved to 0.63 percent in March 2025 as compared to 1.03 percent a year ago. It has a slippage ratio of 1.13 percent as compared to 1.56 percent a year earlier.
As of March 2025, its capital adequacy saw a surge to 18.02 percent from 16.97 percent. Bank’s ROA improved by 38 bps on a YoY basis to 1.26 percent & ROE improved by 395 bps on a YoY basis to 17.20 percent during FY25.
Conclusion
Both UBI and PNB reported good numbers, but PNB exhibited more robust bottom-line expansion (net profit doubled), superior deposit and credit growth, and much lower write-offs. UBI excelled in asset quality, capital buffers, and return levels, with superior ROA and better ROE improvement.
Written by Satyajeet Mukherjee
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