PNB Q2 profit falls 63 pc to Rs 411 cr on higher provisions

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Tuesday reported a 63 per cent decline in standalone net profit to Rs 411 crore for the September quarter on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.

The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 1,105 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income in the second quarter of the current fiscal increased to Rs 23,001.26 crore as against Rs 21,262.32 in the July-September period a year ago, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

The lender's interest income also rose to Rs 20,154 crore from Rs 17,980 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Net interest income increased by 30.2 per cent to Rs 8271 crore in the quarter as compared to same period a year ago.

With regard to asset quality, improvement was witnessed with the gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) declining to 10.48 per cent of the gross advances from 13.36 per cent earlier.

In absolute terms, the gross NPAs or bad loans stood at Rs 87,034.79 crore at the end of the second quarter of FY23, compared to Rs 1,00,290.85 crore a year earlier.

The net NPA too declined to 3.80 per cent as against 5.49 per cent.

However, provisions for bad loans increased to Rs 3,555.98 crore in the July-September quarter of FY23 as against Rs 2,692.74 crore in the year-ago period.

As on September this year, the Provisioning Coverage Ratio improved to 83.96 per cent as compared to 80.77 per cent at the end of September 2021.

During the quarter, the bank has not availed any dispensation in respect of frauds in terms of option available as per RBI Circular, it said. Further, it said, during the quarter, the bank has charged the entire un-amortised portion of Rs 651.20 crore as on June 30, 2022.

Therefore, there is no amount which has been carried forward to subsequent quarters, it said.

On a consolidated basis, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 494 crore in the quarter ended September as against Rs 1,104 crore a year ago, registering a decline of 55 per cent.

The consolidated financial result of the bank comprises five subsidiaries and 15 associates.

Global Gross Business increased by 9.33 per cent on YoY basis to Rs 20,23,712 crore as against Rs 18,51,097 crore in September 21.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank declined to 14.74 per cent at the end of September compared to 15.20 per cent in the year-ago period.

Shares of PNB fell over 6 per cent after the firm reported a 63 per cent decline in standalone net profit for the September quarter.

The stock declined 5.87 per cent to settle at Rs 40.10 on the BSE. During the day, it tanked 6.33 per cent to Rs 39.90.