Bank Mellat (Tehran Stock Exchange ticker Vabmellat, وبملت) traded at a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 2.84 on Friday, August 14, 2026, according to Sahmino's nightly instrument reading; a figure nearly 43 percent below the 4.95 average P/E for Tehran's banking and credit institution sector. Behind those two numbers sits a simpler question every depositor eventually asks: how much money does the bank make from your money? Bank Mellat's financial statements and Sahmino's own price board data trace that profit's path, from the deposit account to earnings per share.
Background
Bank Mellat's registered capital rose in four stages from December 2023 to May 2026, from 35.3 to 338.2 trillion tomans; a nearly tenfold increase funded mostly from the bank's own retained earnings. Its market capitalization today, based on the latest closing price and Sahmino's board data, is about 435.9 trillion tomans, with 38 percent of its shares in free float. The same data shows the ticker is not currently flagged under special exchange supervision. Tehran's Stock Exchange trades Saturday through Wednesday and is closed Thursday and Friday (today); Vabmellat's last closing price therefore dates to Wednesday, August 12, 2026, while its EPS and P/E figures were refreshed in today's nightly reading, Friday, August 14.
The Numbers
| Earnings per share (trailing twelve months, as of August 14, 2026) | 454 rials |
| Vabmellat's price to earnings (P/E) ratio | 2.84x |
| Banking and credit institution sector average P/E | 4.95x |
| Closing price (Wednesday, August 12, 2026) | 1,290 rials |
| Market capitalization | 435.9 trillion tomans |
| Free float | 38 percent |
| Net profit, first half of fiscal 1404 (ended September 21, 2025) | 79.36 trillion tomans |
The board figures (EPS, P/E, price, market cap and free float) come from Sahmino's price tool's nightly reading on August 14, 2026. The net profit figure was previously published in Sahmino's report on Bank Mellat's earnings per share, which found that two independent media reports, despite disagreeing on the resulting EPS, agreed on this same net profit figure. The two sets of figures come from different sources and dates, and should not be read as describing a single point in time.
The Mechanism
The profit that shows up in Bank Mellat's earnings per share comes from a fairly simple mechanism: the bank collects money from depositors and pays interest on it at a rate whose ceiling is set or approved by Iran's Money and Credit Council, across deposit types ranging from daily short term accounts to one year term deposits; these deposits make up the bulk of the bank's funding. The bank then deploys those same funds mainly two ways: lending to individuals and businesses (تسهیلات, "tasilat", or credit facilities) at rates that are generally higher than what it pays depositors, and investing in other assets such as bonds and equities. The gap between what depositors are paid and what the bank earns from loans, banking fees and other assets, after operating costs (branches, staff, technology) and loan loss provisions, is the net profit that lands on the financial statements and gets divided into earnings per share.
That gap can be pictured with a simple calculation: from net profit alone in the first half of fiscal 1404, Bank Mellat generated a sum equal to nearly 18 percent of its market capitalization today (79.36 of 435.9 trillion tomans); this ratio is Sahmino's own calculation combining two different data sets (the six month financial statement and today's price board) and should not be confused with a shareholder's holding period return. Vabmellat's lower P/E versus the sector average (2.84 versus 4.95x) also means the market is paying less, per unit of that same profitability, for Vabmellat than for Tehran's listed banks on average; that gap can reflect the bank's repeated capital increases, the earlier ambiguity in its EPS reporting, or a more cautious market view of state owned and quasi state banks, and does not by itself mean the stock is cheap or expensive.
Outlook
Bank Mellat's annual report for fiscal year 1404 (ended March 20, 2026), once published, will for the first time report earnings per share on the basis of its final, settled capital of 338.2 trillion tomans, closing the earlier ambiguity between the two different six month EPS figures (656 and 335 rials) that stemmed from a change in the share count. Until that report is published, the 454 rial trailing twelve month EPS figure cited in this report is the best available reading of the bank's current profitability; it may be restated once the share count used in later reports changes.
Bottom Line
In the first half of fiscal 1404, Bank Mellat's net profit alone equaled nearly 18 percent of its market capitalization today, most of the funding behind that profit coming from customer deposits; that profit comes from the gap between what it pays depositors and what it earns on loans, fees and other assets, not from a single source. With today's P/E of 2.84x, the market pays about 43 percent less, per unit of that profitability, for Vabmellat than the banking sector average. The key point for an ordinary depositor: the interest they receive from the bank is only part of the profit the bank makes from that same money; the rest of the gap becomes the bank's growth capital and its shareholders' profit.
What to Watch
Bank Mellat's fiscal 1404 annual report, which will report earnings per share on the basis of its final settled capital for the first time, and any future Money and Credit Council decisions on deposit and lending rate ceilings, which act directly on this same margin.
This report is for informational and analytical purposes only and is not investment advice. All figures carry a specific as of date and may have changed since; verify with official, up to date sources before making any decision.
