1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Comeback
Indian Bank is currently trading around ₹897, sitting on a market capitalisation of ₹1,21,050 crore, and casually delivering 72% return in one year like it’s no big deal. This is the same PSU bank that once lived permanently on the RBI’s “under-watch” list, but is now flashing 17.1% ROE, 1.35% ROA, and a price-to-book of 1.51x.
Q3 FY26 numbers landed with a loud thud: ₹3,148 crore net profit, up 8.15% YoY, quarterly revenue of ₹17,102 crore, and GNPA down to 2.23%. CASA may have slipped a bit over time, but margins are holding strong at ~3.5% NIM, while provisioning coverage is a ridiculous 96.66% – basically the bank has already assumed the worst and prepaid for it.
Debt-to-equity looks scary at 10.5x, but welcome to banking – that’s oxygen, not debt. Dividend yield sits at 1.81%, earnings yield at 6.05%, and P/E at ~10x, slightly richer than PSU peers but still cheaper than most private banks pretending to grow slower.
This is not a “story stock”. This is a cleaned-up balance sheet wearing a PSU nameplate. And the market is slowly realising it.
2. Introduction – From ICU to Gym Bro
Indian Bank was founded in 1907, which means it has survived colonial rule, nationalisation, socialism, liberalisation, demonetisation, and Twitter finance experts. But survival is different from thriving – and for years, Indian Bank was just surviving.
Post the IDBI–Allahabad Bank amalgamation wave and PSU clean-up drive, Indian Bank quietly went into monk mode. Less noise. More provisioning. Ruthless NPA clean-up. Conservative growth.
Fast forward to FY25–FY26, and the same bank is now reporting sub-0.2% net NPAs, consistent profitability, and capital ratios that would make some private banks uncomfortable.
What changed?
- Credit costs collapsed
- Slippages moderated
- Retail and agri loans expanded steadily
- Treasury stopped being a casino and started behaving like a risk desk
The funniest part? Nobody noticed until the stock doubled.
So now the question isn’t “Is Indian Bank
safe?”
The question is: Is Indian Bank still being priced like a PSU bank emotionally, while performing like a disciplined private lender financially?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Indian Bank runs four major engines, none of which involve crypto, BNPL nonsense, or influencer marketing:
- Retail Banking (~39%)
This includes housing loans, personal loans, MSME retail credit, agri jewel loans, and the usual PSU bread-and-butter. Slow, boring, sticky, and profitable when NPAs are under control. - Corporate / Wholesale Banking (~35%)
Mostly mid-to-large corporates, infrastructure-linked credit, and working capital facilities. The bank has deliberately avoided chasing risky high-growth corporate books post FY19 trauma. - Treasury (~24%)
Government securities, investments, and liquidity management. Earlier this used to swing profits wildly. Now it’s stable, predictable, and boring – which is exactly what you want. - Others (~2%)
Fees, commissions, and services. Nothing sexy, but adds stability.
International operations are minimal (~5% of business) with branches in Singapore, Colombo, and Jaffna, plus an IFSC unit in Gujarat. This is not a global bank pretending to be Indian – it’s an Indian bank with a passport.
Add to this 3 RRB associates with ~₹74,500 crore business, and you get reach without overextending the balance sheet.
4. Financials Overview – Numbers That Shut Critics Up
Quarterly Performance Comparison (₹ crore, consolidated)
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Q3 FY26) | YoY Qtr (Q3 FY25) | Prev Qtr (Q2 FY26) | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 17,102 | 15,770 | 16,628 | 8.45% | 2.85% |
| EBITDA* | 11,610 | 10,612 | 11,520 | 9.4% | 0.8% |
| PAT | 3,148 | 2,910 | 3,109 | 8.15% | 1.25% |
| EPS (₹) | 23.36 | 21.60 | 23.07 | 8.1% | 1.3% |
