PNB posts Q4 loss of Rs 5,367 cr, highest ever among listed Indian banks

In the biggest ever quarterly loss ever recorded by any listed Indian bank, public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday slipped into a deep shade of red with a loss of Rs 5,367.14 crore for the quarter ended March 2016, down from a net profit of Rs 306.56 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

As with other public sector banks who are struggling with high non-performing assets (NPAs), PNB's loss, too, stems from having to set aside large sums of capital for bad loans. Provisioning for NPAs grew almost threefold to Rs 10,485.23 crore in the fourth quarter compared with Rs 3,834.19 crore in the previous fiscal.

As far as asset quality concerned, Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) rose to 12.9% at the end of March, from 6.55% a year ago. Net NPAs too jumped to 8.61% as against 4.06%.

Total income during the quarter decreased 1.33% to Rs 13,276.19 crore from Rs 13,455.65 crore a year ago.

For the full fiscal, the lender reported a net loss of Rs 3,974.39 crore compared with a net profit of Rs 3,061.58 crore in corresponding last fiscal.

Total income during the year rose to Rs 54,301.37 crore as against Rs 52,206.09 crore in the previous fiscal.

PNB shares were trading 0.40% higher at Rs 74.20 apiece on BSE.

Punjab National Bank