FinMin Holds Meeting with Heads of State-Owned Banks; Reviews Q1 Financial Performance

The finance ministry on Wednesday held a meeting of heads of public sector banks (PSBs) to review their first-quarter financial performance.

The three-hour-long meeting was chaired by Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju.

During the meeting, the secretary urged the MDs and CEOs of state-owned banks to increase lending towards the productive sector of the economy, according to sources.

The review meeting with public sector banks assessed the performance of the first quarter of 2025-26.

Led by State Bank of India (SBI), public sector banks, cumulatively, logged a record profit of ₹44,218 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal, with an 11% year-on-year growth.

All 12 public sector banks together made a profit of ₹39,974 crore in the June quarter of FY25. The increase in profit in absolute terms was ₹4,244 crore.

Market leader SBI alone contributed 43% to the total earnings of ₹44,218 crore, as per the published numbers on stock exchanges.

SBI logged a net profit of ₹19,160 crore in Q1 FY26, 12% higher than the same period of the previous fiscal. In terms of size and profits, the biggest lender in the nation still controls the public banking market.

In percentage terms, Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank reported the highest net profit growth of 76% to ₹1,111 crore, followed by Punjab & Sind Bank with a 48% rise to ₹269 crore.

During the quarter, all 12 public sector banks (PSBs) except Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a decline in profit.

PNB reported a 48% fall in net profit to ₹1,675 crore against ₹3,252 crore in the year-ago period.

Central Bank of India recorded 32.8% growth in the June quarter net profit to ₹1,169 crore, Indian Bank posted 23.7% rise to ₹2,973 crore, and Bank of Maharashtra logged 23.2% improvement to ₹1,593 crore.