Punjab & Sind Bank has received a rating reaffirmation from Infomerics Ratings for its Basel III compliant Tier II bonds, maintaining the IVR AA/Stable outlook. The rating agency has reaffirmed its assessment of the Rs 237.30 crore bond series, highlighting the bank's continued strength from sovereign ownership and operational improvements.

Rating Details and Rationale

Infomerics Ratings has maintained its IVR AA/Stable rating for the bank's Basel III compliant Tier II Bond Series XV. The rating reflects the bank's position as a government-owned entity with continued sovereign support, adequate capitalization levels, and notable improvements in asset quality over recent years.

Key Rating Strengths

Sovereign Ownership and Support: The Government of India maintains a commanding 93.85% stake in Punjab & Sind Bank as of December 31, 2025. This majority ownership ensures continued capital and operational support, with the government demonstrating a consistent track record of strengthening public sector banks through various measures.

Adequate Capitalization Levels: The bank maintains robust capital adequacy ratios with Common Equity Tier-1 (CET-1) ratio at 15.28%, Tier-I CAR at 15.28%, and overall CAR at 16.83% as of December 31, 2025. During FY25, the bank strengthened its capital base through equity infusion of Rs 1,219 crore via QIP route and Rs 3,000 crore through infrastructure bonds.

Financial Performance Highlights

The bank has demonstrated significant improvement in its financial metrics and asset quality indicators over recent years.

Asset Quality Improvement

The bank has achieved remarkable progress in asset quality metrics, with gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio declining substantially to 2.60% as of December 31, 2025, from elevated levels of 13.76% in FY21. The net non-performing assets (NNPA) ratio improved to 0.74% as of December 31, 2025, compared to 0.96% in FY25.

Rating Constraints and Outlook

Despite the positive developments, the rating remains constrained by the bank's moderate resource profile, with CASA ratio at 31.02% as of December 31, 2025. The bank's relatively moderate size with total business of approximately Rs 2.50 lakh crore and geographically concentrated operations, particularly in northern India, also limit the rating.

Infomerics Ratings expects the outlook to remain stable based on continued government support, growth in advances, healthy resource profile, and further improvement in asset quality. The rating agency will monitor the bank's ability to sustain profitability improvements while containing credit costs amid asset growth.

Punjab & Sind Bank successfully conducted its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on January 21, 2026, securing overwhelming shareholder approval for two critical corporate initiatives. The meeting, held through video conferencing from 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM, saw participation from 38 shareholders and was presided over by Managing Director and CEO Swarup Kumar Saha.

Key Resolutions Approved

Shareholders voted on two major agenda items, both of which received substantial support through a combination of remote e-voting and live voting during the meeting.

₹3000 Crore QIP Approval

The primary resolution sought approval to raise equity capital up to ₹3000.00 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). The voting results demonstrated strong shareholder confidence:

This special resolution enables the bank to issue fresh equity shares with a face value of ₹10.00 each, including premium, through QIP as determined by the Board or its designated committee.

Director Appointment

The second resolution approved the appointment of Shri Jitendra Asati as Government of India nominee director, in compliance with SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015:

Meeting Proceedings and Governance

The EGM was conducted with proper regulatory compliance and transparency measures. Key attendees included:

• Swarup Kumar Saha - MD & CEO (Chairman)
• Ravi Mehra - Executive Director
• Shankar Lal Agarwal - Director
• R P Gupta - Director

The bank had published notices in Business Standard (Hindi and English editions) on December 24, 2025, and December 31, 2025, ensuring adequate shareholder communication. An addendum dated January 8, 2026, was published on January 9, 2026, adding the director appointment to the agenda.

E-Voting Process

The bank implemented a comprehensive voting mechanism to ensure maximum shareholder participation:

Remote E-Voting Details:

• Period: January 17, 2026 (10:00 AM) to January 20, 2026 (5:00 PM)
• Platform: Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL)
• Cut-off Date: January 14, 2026
• Notice Recipients: 2,13,950 shareholders via email

M/s S N Ananthasubramanian & Co, Company Secretaries, served as scrutinizers to oversee both remote e-voting and live voting processes, ensuring fair and transparent procedures throughout.

Regulatory Compliance

The meeting was conducted in full compliance with SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980. All voting results were uploaded to the bank's website and stock exchange platforms (BSE and NSE) as required by regulatory guidelines.

The successful completion of this EGM positions Punjab & Sind Bank to proceed with its capital raising initiatives while strengthening its board composition with the new government nominee director appointment.