Central Bank of India announced impressive financial results for the third quarter ending December 31, 2025. The bank's net profit surged by 31.7% year-on-year, reaching Rs 1,263 crore. This strong performance was driven by multiple factors across the bank's operations.
Income Growth and Key Drivers
Total income for the quarter increased by 12.6% to Rs 10,968 crore, up from Rs 9,739 crore in the same period last year. Interest income grew by 6.2% to Rs 9,033 crore, supported by a substantial 19.5% expansion in gross advances.
Non-interest income showed remarkable growth, jumping 57.5% to Rs 1,935 crore. This surge was primarily led by a 130.1% increase in other receipts. These receipts included recoveries from written-off accounts and treasury profits, which significantly boosted the bank's overall earnings.
Management Commentary and Targets
MD & CEO Kalyan Kumar presented the results on Friday. He noted that the bank successfully met most of its projections. However, the net interest margin stood at 2.96%, slightly below the targeted 3%+. The cost to income ratio reached 57.84%, exceeding the 56% target.
Kumar highlighted the bank's strong liquidity position. Credit growth at 19.4% outpaced deposit growth of 15.7%. Despite this, the bank maintained comfortable liquidity due to its relatively low credit deposit ratio and high government bond holdings. These holdings were 9% above the mandated requirement.
Expenses and Provisions
Total expenses rose by 11.6% to Rs 8,676 crore. Interest paid increased by 11.3%, largely because of a 13% rise in interest on deposits. Employee-related expenses grew by 14.7% to Rs 2,055 crore.
Provisions edged up by 2.5% to Rs 1,029 crore. The bank raised provisions for standard assets to Rs 150 crore and for restructured accounts to Rs 346 crore. These moves aim to strengthen the balance sheet against potential risks.
Asset Quality Improvement
Asset quality showed further improvement during the quarter. The gross non-performing asset ratio declined to 2.7% from 3.86% a year ago and 3.01% in the previous quarter. Net NPAs fell to 0.45% from 0.59% last year.
Return on assets increased to 1.01% from 0.86%. Return on equity improved to 14.47% from 12.85%. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.13%, compared to 16.43% a year earlier.
Business Growth and Strategy
Under its "Year of Business Acceleration" strategy, the bank's total business grew by 15.8% year-on-year to Rs 7,74,106 crore. Deposits increased by 13.2% to Rs 4,50,575 crore, while advances rose by 19.5% to Rs 3,23,531 crore.
Retail, agriculture and MSME advances together grew by 17.9% to Rs 2,23,166 crore. This segment now accounts for about 69% of gross advances.
Loan Book Composition
As of end-December 2025, the loan book remained well diversified. RAM advances totaled Rs 2,23,166 crore, while corporate credit stood at Rs 1,00,365 crore.
Within the RAM segment, retail advances reached Rs 96,652 crore. Housing loans of Rs 57,311 crore drove this growth. MSME advances amounted to Rs 67,338 crore, and agriculture advances totaled Rs 59,176 crore.
The bank reported that 79.46% of standard rated advances of Rs 25 crore and above were rated 'A' and above. Government-guaranteed advances were Rs 5,399 crore. Priority sector lending stood at 53% of adjusted net bank credit, well above the mandated 40% norm.
