PNB posts Rs 507 crore net profit in September quarter; asset quality improves

Punjab National Bank reported net profit of Rs 507.05 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2019. The state-owned lender had posted loss of Rs 4,532.35 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Interest earned during the quarter stood at Rs 13,291.92 crore, whereas interest expended was Rs 9,028.08 crore. Net interest income (NII) during the second quarter of the current fiscal was Rs 4,263.84 crore, up 7.29 per cent from Rs 3,974.11 crore in the year ago period.

The bank made provisions worth Rs 2,928.90 crore during Q2 FY20, 70 per cent less than Rs 9,757.90 crore in Q2 FY19, but 44 per cent higher than Rs 2,023.31 crore.

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"During the quarter bank has availed dispensation for deferment of provision in respect of frauds amounting to Rs 2,580.72 crore. Accordingly, an amount of Rs 645.19 crore has been charged to profit and loss account during the quarter and Rs 1,935.53 crore has been deferred to subsequent quarters," PNB said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

"Further out of unamortised amount of Rs 718.38 crore up to quarter ended June 2019 an amount of Rs 369.59 crore has been charged to profit and loss account during the quarter and remaining amount of Rs 348.79 crore has been carried forward to subsequent quarters. Total amount of remaining provision to be carried over to the subsequent quarters is Rs 2,284.32 crore," the lender further added.

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PNB also saw its asset quality improve slightly during the September quarter. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as percentage of total advances declined to 16.76 per cent on an annual basis in Q2 FY20 from 17.16 on Q2 FY19, but increased sequentially from 16.49 per cent in Q1 FY20. Net NPAs as a percentage of total advances also declined year-on-year during quarter ended September 2019 to 7.65 per cent from 8.90 in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, PNB shares fell 3.25 points, or 4.77 per cent, to Rs 64.95 after the financial results for September quarter were announced.

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