Nifty Bank P/B at 1.74, cheaper on book than in March

Five months later

In March this series found Nifty Bank at a P/B of 1.96, the lowest since NSE moved to consolidated figures in 2021, with the price only 9% below its February record. Since then the price has gone down and back. The ratio has kept falling.

Nifty Bank closed at 57,446.25 on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, at a price-to-book ratio of 1.74 and a P/E of 13.59. These are NSE's end-of-day figures, charted on the Nifty Bank valuation page.

The same story, further along

Book and earnings are the index divided by its P/B and its P/E.

Between 9 March and 11 August:

• the index rose 2.5%;
• the book value behind it rose about 15.5%;
• the earnings behind it rose about 13.3%.

The low of the period came on 30 March, when the index closed at 50,275.35, 18.3% below its record close of 61,550.80 from 18 February. The P/B that day, 1.71, is the only reading since March 2021 below today's. Since then the price has recovered 14.3%, and the book has grown almost as fast, so the ratio has barely moved off its low.

The book did not grow smoothly. It came in steps: 2.9% on 30 March, 3.4% across 1 and 2 June, and 3.4% on 20 July, with smaller moves in between.

Against the record

Since 31 March 2021, over 1,323 sessions:

• P/B: median 2.64. One session closed lower.
• P/E: median 16.21. 80 sessions closed lower, about the 6th percentile.

The full P/B record runs from 15 September 2003. Over those 5,660 sessions the median is 2.47 and 419 sessions, 7.4%, closed below 1.74. They fall in 2003 and 2004 (190 sessions), 2008 and 2009 (182, with the all-time low of 0.97 on 9 March 2009), and a few in 2006, 2013 and 2020, plus the one in March this year.

So on book value, Nifty Bank is about as cheap as it was in March 2020, when it touched 1.58, while the index today is only 6.7% below its record.

Lower returns on a bigger book

A year earlier, on 11 August 2025, the index closed at 55,510.75 at a P/B of 2.14 and a P/E of 15.18.

• Price: up 3.5%.
• Book: up about 27.3%.
• Earnings: up about 15.6%.

Divide the P/B by the P/E and you get the year's earnings as a share of book: 14.1% a year ago, 13.1% in March, 12.8% now. Book has outgrown profit for more than a year, which is part of why the P/B has fallen further than the P/E.

The rest of the financial pack

Medians and counts are since 31 March 2021, out of 1,323 sessions.

Private banks and the wider financials sit at or near their lows on book: the Private Bank index's low of 1.92 and the Bank index's 1.71 both came on 30 March, and Financial Services set its low of 2.46 on 28 July 2026. PSU banks remain the exception, a little above their median on book.

What this does not tell you

A falling return on book can justify a falling P/B. Earnings as a share of book have dropped from 14.1% to 12.8% in a year.

Book value is only as good as the loans behind it. If bad loans are understated, book is overstated.

Some of the growth may be the index changing. The published ratios cannot separate balance-sheet growth from changes in membership or weights.

Low has gone lower before. In 2008 and 2009 the P/B kept falling to 0.97.

This is the index, not a fund. Banking funds hold their own mix of lenders and other financials.

Where to go from here

The Private Bank and Financial Services pages carry the same series. For every sector against its own median at mid-year, see the cheapest and dearest NSE indices. The guide on banking and financial services funds covers how funds in the space are built.