The shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB) slid after the public sector bank posted its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.
The shares slipped more than 12% on NSE on Thursday after the bank’s standalone net profit dipped 66 percent year on year to Rs 201 crore in the January-March quarter as the lender had to put away Rs 325 crore on account of fraud.
The bank during the same corresponding quarter last year reported a net profit of Rs 586 crore.
For the full fiscal of 2022, the Punjab National Bank reported a net profit of Rs 3,457 crore compared with a profit of Rs 2,022 crore posted a year ago.
PNB’s total income in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 21,095 crore versus Rs 21,386 crore a year ago.
The lender’s interest income during the quarter under review was Rs 18,645 crore compared with Rs 18,808 crore, which came in last year. However, the bank’s net interest income increased to Rs 7,305 crore from Rs 6,957 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.
The bank’s asset quality improved a bit with gross non-performing assets as a percentage of gross advances decreasing to 11.78 percent from 14.12 percent a year-ago period.
Gross NPAs in the third quarter stood at 12.88 percent.
Net NPAs were 4.80 percent in the fourth quarter from 5.73 percent a year ago and 4.90 percent in the third quarter.
On a consolidated basis, the lender posted a profit of Rs 245 crore in the January-March quarter compared with a profit of Rs 546 crore reported a year ago.
PNB, in particular, received an exemption from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to delay the provision of Rs 1,302.41 crore for irregularities reported during the quarter. “Out of this an amount of Rs 325.61 crore has been charged to the Profit & Loss Account during the quarter,” the lender said in an exchange filing.
In March, the lender reported borrowal fraud of Rs 2,060.14 crore in the NPA account of IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power.
The consolidated financial results of the group represent five subsidiaries and 15 associates, it said.
The lender said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic does not give a clear picture as new variants keep on coming and the major challenge for the bank would stem from eroding cash flows and extended working capital cycles. However, the bank said it is preparing itself on all fronts to meet these challenges.