State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday posted a nearly three-fold increase in net profit at a 16-quarter high of Rs 3,010 crore in March 2024 quarter backed by improved core income and decline in bad loans.
Financial Highlights
The bank had earned a net profit of Rs 1,159 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The total income increased to Rs 32,361 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 27,269 crore in the same period last year, PNB said in a regulatory filing.
Interest income grew to Rs 28,113 crore during the period under review, from Rs 23,849 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Net Interest Income (NII) increased to Rs 10,363 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 9,499 crore in Q4 FY23, registering an improvement of 9.1 per cent.
On the asset quality side, the bank’s gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) moderated to 5.73 per cent of gross advances as of March 31, 2024, from 8.74 per cent at the end of March 2023.
Net NPAs also declined to 0.73 per cent of the advances, from 2.72 per cent at the end of 2023.
As a result, provisions for bad loans declined to Rs 1,958 crore, as against Rs 3,625 crore earmarked during the same quarter a year ago.
During the latest January-March quarter, the bank made a cash recovery of Rs 1,800 crore as against Rs 2,575 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
Speaking about quarterly numbers, PNB managing director Atul Kumar Goel said there has been all round improvement including NII and reduction in NPAs, which has contributed to highest ever fourth quarter net profit.
Provision coverage ratio of the bank improved to 95.4 per cent as against 86.8 per cent at the end of same quarter a year ago.
For the financial year ended March 2024, the bank’s net profit increased over three-fold to Rs 8,245 crore, as compared to Rs 2,507 crore in the previous fiscal.
Total income of the bank increased to Rs 1,20,285 crore in FY24 as against Rs 97,287 crore in the preceding fiscal.
During FY24, NII rose by 16.2 per cent to Rs 40,083 crore from Rs 34,492 crore in the previous year.
Net slippages declined by Rs 8,646 crore from Rs 14,198 crore in FY23 to Rs 5,552 crore in FY24.
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CRAR) improved to 15.97 per cent as against 15.50 per cent on March 31, 2023.
Asked about anticipated business growth in the current financial year, Goel said, credit growth expected to be 11-12 per cent while deposit would be 9-10 per cent.
Going forward, he said, the bank aims at bringing down Gross NPA to below 5 per cent and net NPA to 0.5 per cent at the end of March 2025.
Net Interest Margin stood at 3.09 per cent in FY24, he said, adding, it should be in the range of 2.9-3 per cent in FY25.
He said the board has given its nod for raising Rs 7,500 crore via Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).
The work has started and merchant bankers have been appointed for the QIP, he said.
QIP should take place by September depending on the market condition, he added.
