PNB posts Rs 492 cr net loss in Q3 due to high provisions

Punjab National Bank reported a sudden standalone net loss of Rs 492.28 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2019 against a profit of Rs 246.51 crore in the same period last year.

In the previous September quarter, the bank had a profit of Rs 507.05 crore.

Total income during the quarter under review was at Rs 15,967.49 crore as against Rs 14,854.24 crore in the year-ago same period, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

Interest earned during the quarter stood at Rs 13,834.9 crore, whereas interest expended was Rs 9,366.88 crore.

The PSU bank said provisions for the quarter jumped 73.25 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,445.36 crore from Rs 2,565.77 crore in Q2. CRAR (Capital adequacy ratio), as per Basel III, improved to 14.04 per cent in December 2019 from 10.52 per cent in December 2018-19, the lender said.

The bank's domestic deposits increased 9.4 per cent YoY to Rs 6,89,694 crore in December 2019 and retail credit saw 13.6 per cent YoY growth to Rs 97,400 crore in December 2019.

"Housing loans grew by 20.4 per cent YOY to Rs 58,201 crore in December 2019," the lender said.

In Q3, the bank availed dispensation for deferment of provision in respect of frauds amounting to Rs 238.84 crore. Accordingly, an amount of Rs 59.71 crore has been charged to the profit and loss account during the quarter and the rest Rs 179.13 crore has been deferred to subsequent quarters.

PNB also saw little improvement in its asset quality during the December quarter. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances declined to 16.3 per cent on an annual basis in Q3 FY20 from 16.33 per cent on Q3 FY19. Net NPAs as a percentage of total advances also declined year-on-year during the quarter ended December 2019 to 7.18 per cent from 8.22 in the year-ago period.

"Further out of unamortised amount of Rs 2,284.32 crore up to quarter ended September 30, an amount of Rs 887.57 crore has been charged to P&L account during the quarter and remaining amount of Rs 1,396.75 crore has been carried forward to subsequent quarters. Total amount of remaining provision to be carried over to the subsequent quarters is Rs 1,575.88 crore," the bank said.

Interest earned during the quarter rose 4.04 per cent to Rs 13,562.69 crore from Rs 13,035.08 crore last year.

Meanwhile, PNB stock was trading at Rs 58.70 on the BSE, up 2.35 per cent, on Tuesday.

( With inputs from IANS )