PNB's Q3 net rises two folds to `1,127 crore

New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday reported a two-fold jump in standalone net profit to Rs 1,126.78 crore for the third quarter ended December, as bad loans marginally declined.

The country's second-largest public sector lender had earned a net profit of Rs 506.03 crore in the year-ago period.

The total income during October-December 2021 was Rs 22,026.02 crore as against Rs 23,298.53 crore a year ago, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

On the asset quality front, the bank witnessed improvement by cutting its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances to 12.88 per cent from 12.99 per cent by the same period a year ago.

In absolute value, gross NPAs stood at Rs 97,258.67 crore by the end of December 2021 as against Rs 94,479.33 crore by the year-ago same period.

However, the net NPA ratio rose to 4.90 per cent (Rs 33,878.56 crore) from 4.03 per cent (Rs 26,598.13 crore).

The capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) as per Basel-III rose to 14.91 per cent at the end of the December 2021 quarter. Out of this, CET-I stood at 10.99 per cent.

On a consolidated basis, the bank recorded a profit of Rs 1,150.49 crore during the latest quarter as against a profit of Rs 585.77 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The bank reported the total income on a consolidated basis at Rs 22,275.40 crore against Rs 23,639.41 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal.

The consolidated financial results of the Group include financial results of five subsidiaries and 15 associates, it said.

The lender further said the situation continues to be uncertain due to new coronavirus variants and the bank is evaluating the situation on an ongoing basis.