MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday announced 307% rise in net profit at Rs 1,255 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal, driven by surge in interest income and decline in provisions for the bad loans. The country’s second-largest public sector bank had posted Rs 308 crore net profit in the same quarter the previous year. Its net interest income reached Rs 9,504 crore, the highest ever for the bank, registering a 26% growth during the quarter.
Provisions for bad loans declined to Rs 4,374 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 4,814 crore in the same quarter of previous year. The bank is expecting to recover Rs 50-100 crore from attached properties of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi in the current quarter, said Atul Kumar Goel, managing director at PNB, in a virtual press conference.
“The bank is on track to achieve overall recovery of Rs 22,000 crore in the current fiscal,” said Goel. In the first quarter, the bank made recoveries of Rs 5,470 crore, which is higher than the slippages of Rs 2,390 crore. The bank’s asset quality showed improvement with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) easing to 7.73% of the gross advances by June 2023 from 11.2% a year ago. The net NPA also declined to 1.98% during the quarter as against 4.26% in the same period of the previous year.
“We expect to achieve 12-13 percent credit growth and 10-11 percent deposit growth in the current financial year,” added Goel. Commenting on the trajectory of deposit rates, he said that the deposit rate have peaked.
Key financials
Net profit: Rs 1,255 cr, 307% rise
Total income: Rs 28,579 cr, 34% rise
Interest income: Rs 25,145 cr, 34% rise
Net interest income: Rs 9,504 cr, 26%
Bank's asset quality showed improvement
Gross non-performing assets ease to 7.73% of gross advances by June 2023 from 11.2% a year ago
Net NPA too falls to 1.98% as against 4.26% in the same period of the previous year
Provisions for bad loans come down to `4,374 crore in April-June FY24 as against `4,814 crore in the year-ago period