Punjab National Bank posts Q4 profit of Rs261.90 crore as provisions fall

Mumbai: Punjab National Bank on Tuesday said it reported a net profit of Rs261.90 crore in the March quarter against a loss of Rs5,367.14 crore from a year ago due to lower provisions, higher net interest and other income.

According to estimates of 22 Bloomberg analysts, the bank was expected to post a net profit of Rs447.10 crore.

Net interest income, or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, rose 33.09% to Rs3,683.52 crore from Rs2,767.71 crore in the year-ago period. Non-interest income surged 68.16% to Rs3,102.80 crore from Rs1,845.18 crore in the same period last year.

Provisions fell 41.8% from a year ago to Rs5,753.51 crore from Rs9,878.25 crore. It reported provisions of Rs2,562.19 crore a quarter ago.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fell 0.8% to Rs55,370.45 crore at the end of the March quarter from Rs55,818.33 crore a year ago. The bank reported gross NPA of Rs55,627.51 crore a quarter ago.

As a percentage of total loans, gross NPAs stood at 12.53% at the end of the March quarter compared with 13.7% in the previous quarter and 12.9% in the year-ago quarter. Net NPAs were at 7.81% compared with 9.09% in the previous quarter and 8.61% in the same quarter last year.

Deposits grew 12.4% year-on-year to Rs621.70 billion, while advances rose marginally 1.7% to Rs419.49 billion.

At 1.42pm, shares of PNB were trading at Rs177.35 apiece on the BSE, up 6.23% from its previous close, while India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.54% to 30,484.57points.

Punjab National Bank