Most profitable bank in India: A Comparative Analysis of Indian Nationalized Banks

This paper attempts to analyze the profitability of nationalized banks in India. There are nineteen nationalized banks in India. All the banks are profitable. But the question iswhich bank is the most profitable nationalized bank in India. This paper has tried to find the answer to the above mentioned question on the basis of profitability analysis since the nationalized banks are the core part of total banking system in India and there is a need to evaluate the performance of these banks. Profitability is an important criterion to measure the performance of banks, in addition to financial and operational efficiency. This study used the most recent data available for the period 2008 to 2012 and examined the profitability of nineteen nationalized banks operating in India. By applying key profitability ratios to assess the comparative profitability of nineteen nationalized bank, it was found that the Punjab National Bank ranked first in the overall profitability analysis index whereas the United Bank of India and the Vijaya Bank were both positioned at 15^th rank.