PNB marches on with sound Q4 performance

The country’s second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Friday declared a dividend of Rs 3.30 (or 165 per cent) per share of Rs 2 each for 2014-15.  Total income of the lender during the quarter increased by 7.7 per cent to Rs 13,455.65 crore during the quarter from Rs 12,498.23 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Interest income of the bank during the quarter under review rose by 4.9 per cent to Rs 11,651 crore against Rs 11,101 crore in same period a year ago. However, the net interest income declined by 5.3 per cent at Rs 3,792 crore against Rs 4,002 crore in the same quarter of 2013-14.

As far as asset quality of the bank is concerned, the Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) rose to 6.55 per at the end of March 2015, from 5.25 per cent a year ago. The net NPAs too rose to 4.06 per cent against 2.85 per cent at March 2014. The bank restructured assets worth Rs 15,241 crore during the quarter including bad loans of Rs 404 crore. On an annual basis, net profit declined by 8.4 per cent at Rs 3,062 crore as compared to Rs 3,343 crore an year ago, he said. Total income during the year rose to Rs 52,206.09 crore against Rs 47,799.96 crore in the previous fiscal.

At the same time, the net interest income for the entire fiscal rose marginally by 2.5 per cent to Rs 16,556 crore against Rs 16,146 crore a year ago. Total provisions of the bank during the fiscal rose by 10.6 per cent to Rs 8,893 crore, compared to Rs 8,042 crore in the same period a year ago. Gross NPAs in absolute terms at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal stood at Rs 22,211 crore, while net NPAs were at Rs 13,788 crore. “Legacy problem with regard to restructured assets and NPA would continue for next two quarters,” said PNB ED Gauri Shankar Shankar.

During the year, the bank’s net interest margin declined to 3.15 per cent from 3.44 per cent at the end of March, 2014. PNB’s total business stood at Rs 8.83 lakh crore during the year, he said, adding, that this figure is 10.1 per cent higher as compared to the previous fiscal. Capital adequacy of the bank as at the end of March as per the Basel-III norms was 12.2 per cent.