The bank’s asset quality increased as the gross non-performing assets (NPA) reduced by 83 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 16.33 per cent.
State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Tuesday reported a 7.12 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 246.51 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018, driven by recoveries of Rs 16,600 crore between April and December and lower provisioning for bad loans.
PNB, which was involved in a Rs 14,356-crore scam by Nirav Modi, had reported net profit of Rs 230.11 crore during the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year. The country’s second-largest state-run lender by assets, had reported a record loss of Rs 4,532.4 crore in Q3FY18.
Net interest income (NII) of the lender rose by 7.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 4,290.1 crore during the quarter. PNB managing director and CEO Sunil Mehta said the company’s financial numbers are back in black. “We have honoured all our commitments. Our bank, as on date, has provided all for that incident (Nirav Modi fraud). We suffered because of the one-off incident which has now been absorbed by the bank,” Mehta said.
The bank’s asset quality increased as the gross non-performing assets (NPA) reduced by 83 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 16.33 per cent. The provision coverage ratio of the bank was at 68.85 per cent in Q3FY19 as against 66.92 per cent Q2FY19. The bank’s overall exposure to national company law tribunal (NCLT) accounts, as on December 31, 2018, was at Rs 36,367 crore.
Stressed assets of the lender reduced by 5.7 per cent QoQ to Rs 84,732 crore during the quarter. Net NPA was down 68 bps at 8.22 per cent for Q3FY19. Fresh slippages for Q3FY19 was down 25.7 per cent QoQ at Rs 3,324 crore. The net interest margin stood at 2.64 per cent for the quarter. Provisions and contingencies were down 38.3 per cent y-o-y at Rs 2,753.8 crore. The bank’s per-provisioning profit fell by 27 per cent YoY to Rs 3,099.86 crore. FE, With PTI
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