Punjab National Bank Posts Loss Of Rs 4,750 Crore In March Quarter

State-owned Punjab National Bank on Tuesday said that its loss narrowed to Rs 4,750 crore in the quarter ended March 2019 from loss of Rs 13,417 crore during the same quarter last year. The provisions for bad loans dropped to Rs 9,153.55 crore from provisioning for non-performing assets (NPA) of Rs 16,202.82 crore in the March quarter of 2018. However, the provisions on a sequential basis jumped over three times from Rs 2,565.77 crore in December quarter.

Punjab National Bank's net interest income or the difference between interest earned and interest expended rose 37 per cent to Rs 4,200 crore versus Rs 3,063.36 crore during the same quarter last year.

Punjab National Bank's asset quality improved in March quarter as its gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total advances came in at 15.50 per cent compared with 16.33 per cent in the previous quarter.

The net non-performing assets, as a percentage of total advances came in at 6.56 per cent compared with 8.22 per cent in the previous quarter.

As per the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines, PNB made a provision of Rs 11,940.15 crore towards its exposure to accounts covered under provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the bank said in a regulatory filing.

During the quarter, PNB restructured 13,682 MSME accounts worth Rs 622 crore, PNB added in the regulatory filing.