Punjab National Bank (PNB) shares closed over 3% higher on Friday after the lender posted a surprise profit of Rs 1,018.6 crore in the first quarter ended June (Q1) compared to a loss of Rs 940.01 crore in the year-ago period and loss of Rs 4,749.64 crore in the previous quarter.
PNB shares closed the trading session at Rs 68.15, up 3.2%, on BSE after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 69.65. The stock has corrected nearly 20% in the last one year.
PNB’s Net Interest Income (NII) during the June quarter tumbled 11.7% year-on-year to Rs 4,141.4 crore on a loan growth of mere 1.55%.
The bank’s asset quality, however, weakened further when compared to the previous quarter. In Q1, gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances increased 99 basis points to 16.49% compared with the previous quarter, while net NPA as a percentage of net advances jumped 61 basis points to 7.17%
While addressing a press conference after the earnings announcement, PNB’s MD and CEO Sunil Mehta said: “We expect to bring gross NPAs below 12% by the end of the year and FY20 will be a year of profitability for the bank.”
The bank’s fresh slippages stood lower at Rs 4,711 crore for the June quarter compared with Rs 6,710 crore seen in the previous quarter. Provisions also fell by a sharp 80% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 2,023 crore at the end of the June quarter. Provision coverage ratio improved marginally to 74.63% during the quarter from 74.5% in the previous March quarter.
Operating profit for the bank fell 17% year-on-year to Rs 3,481.4 crore in the June quarter, but other income (non-interest income) grew by 6% to Rs 2,075 crore.
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