Comparative Financial Analysis of Selected Indian Banks and NBFCs: An Empirical Study of Profitability, Asset Quality and Performance Determinants

Abstract

This study undertakes a comparative financial analysis of ten selected Indian banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies using secondary data from annual reports, NSE/BSE filings, Screener. in and RBI publications. The sample includes HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Cholamandalam, Muthoot Finance and Power Finance Corporation. Key ratios examined are Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Net Interest Margin and Gross Non-Performing Assets. Ratio analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and t-tests were applied. Results show that retail-focused NBFCs, particularly Bajaj Finance, report higher ROE and ROA with low GNPA. Private banks maintain strong asset quality, while SBI has improved its return ratios significantly in recent years. Correlation analysis confirms a strong positive association between ROE and ROA and a negative association between GNPA and profitability. The study concludes that healthy margins, combined with controlled asset quality, remain central to sustained financial performance in the Indian banking and NBFC sectors.