Down 26% from 52-week high; Citi maintains 'sell' on this PSU Bank: Check if you own it

Even as the public sector lender Punjab National Bank has posted good growth in its domestic deposits by as much as 14.4 per cent during the December quarter, global brokerage Citi has continued with its 'sell' rating on the counter.

On Thursday, the lender during market hours reported provisional figures as on December 31, 2024. 

The lender noted that sequentially its domestic deposits surged 4.2 per cent during the review period from Rs 14,16,389 crore as of the September 2024 quarter to Rs 14,75,482 in December quarter. In the same quarter last year, the bank's domestic deposits were at Rs 12,89,270 crore.

The bank's domestic advances stood at Rs 10,61,852 crore in Q3 FY25, up 14.1 per cent on-year and up 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).

The banks global advances increased 15 per cent to Rs 11,11,940 crore as of December 2024 as against Rs 9,67,256 crore as of December 2023 and up 4.7 per cent from Rs 10,61,904 crore as of September 2024.

What Citi makes of PNB after its Q3 business update?

The global brokerage has maintained its 'sell' call on the counter, pegging the target at Rs 96, implying potential decline of nearly 9 per cent from the previous close of Rs 105.45 per share on the BSE.

The brokerage highlighted that PNB reported growth in global advances by 15 per cent on-year and 4.7 per cent sequentially against its estimates of 13.8 per cent growth on-year. Citi believes RAM or (Retail, Agriculture, and MSME) will be the primary growth driver for the lender.

Citi added that the bank's management maintains NIM (net interest margin) guidance of 2.9-3 per cent & endeavor to not only sustain but also grow the net interest income (NII).

PNB share price performance

The stock in the past one year has gained just 10 per cent and scaled 52-week high price of Rs 142.9 on April 30, 2024. And considering the last close, the stock has corrected over 26 per cent.