Punjab National Bank (PNB) posted net profits to the tune of Rs 561 crore in the second quarter of current fiscal beating expert estimates. The second biggest public sector bank in India saw its net profit rise by 2 per cent in the September quarter as compared to the corresponding period last year and more than 63 per cent against the June quarter of the current fiscal. Operating profits posted by PNB in Q2'18 rose by 20 per cent Y-o-Y to end at Rs 3279 crore.
The rise in PNB profits beating analyst estimates could be attributed to decrease in the bank's bad assets. PNB saw its gross NPA ratio reduced to at 13.31 per cent during Q2 in 2017-18 in comparison to 13.63 per cent seen at the end of September 2016. The bank's net NPA ratio slid to 8.44 per cent in this quarter from 9.10 per cent recorded at the end of September quarter last year. PNB claimed in a statement to have contained slippages during the September quarter.
The net interest income for Q2 FY18 stood at Rs 4015 crore, showing a 3.5 per cent Y-o-Y growth, whereas the non-interest income for the same period amounted to Rs 1906 crore, with a 5.4 per cent growth.
PNB also managed to cut its operating expenses by 10.6 per cent, spending Rs 2642 crore between July and September this year, as compared to Rs 2956 crore seen for the corresponding period last fiscal. Its total income during the September quarter of 2017-18 was up at Rs 14,205.31 crore as against Rs 13,638.64 crore in the year-ago period.
The global business for PNB brought in Rs 10.46 lakh crore in Q2 FY18 with an increase of 8 per cent as against Rs 9.68 lakh crore seen last year. Global deposits alone for the bank stood at Rs 6.36 lakh crore, growing at 10.7 per cent from Rs 5.74 lakh crore for Q2 FY17. Bank's global credit rose year-on-year by 4.5 per cent, whereas domestic credit increased by 8.3 per cent, according to a statement by PNB.
Additionally, the board of directors of PNB has given the green signal to the bank management to partially sell its stake in PNB Housing Finance Ltd. But for now, PNB Finance Housing Ltd will continue to be one of the core associates of PNB.
Meanwhile, PNB shares rose to the day's high of Rs 211.95, growing 8 per cent, after its Q2 results came out. The bank's shares were trading at Rs 207, up by 5 per cent by the time this report was written.
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