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Punjab National Bank (PNB), country’s second largest public sector bank, on Friday reported a 103 per cent increase in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, at ₹4,508 crore (₹2,223 crore).
On a sequential basis, the profit after tax (PAT) increased 5 per cent over ₹4,303 crore reported in Q2FY25.
The total income of the bank for the quarter under review increased to ₹34,752 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from ₹29,962 crore in the year-ago period.
Commenting on the third quarter performance, the newly appointed MD& CEO Ashok Chandra attributed the surge in profits to strong operating performance of the bank besides improved asset quality. “Our provisioning for bad loans has come down substantially. Our provision coverage ratio is also high. This gave us added boost to our bottomline. We are very confident that this quarterly bottomline performance will be sustained in fourth quarter of this fiscal as well”, Chandra added.
For the entire fiscal 2024-25, PNB is eyeing a net interest margin of 3 per cent, he added.
He also said that PNB had performed well on deposit mobilisation front for the quarter under review and did not face the strain as seen in certain other banks.
During the quarter, the bank’s interest income rose to ₹31,340 crore from ₹27,288 crore in the same period last fiscal. The bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) grew 7.17 per cent to ₹11,032 crore as against ₹10,293 crore in the same quarter of FY24.
Improved asset quality
PNB’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as of December 31, 2024, stood at ₹45,413.98 crore, lower from ₹47,582.25 crore in Q2FY25 and ₹60,371.38 crore in Q3FY24.
As a percentage of total outstanding, it was reported at 4.09 per cent in Q3FY25, down from 4.48 per cent in Q2FY25 and 6.24 per cent in Q3FY24.
Net NPAs stood at ₹4,437.43 crore in Q3FY25, down from ₹4,674.24 crore in Q2FY25 and ₹8,815.88 crore in the year-ago period. In percentage terms, it stood at 0.41 per cent, lower from 0.46 per cent in Q2FY25 and 0.96 per cent in Q3FY24.
Encouraged by the strong third quarter performance, shares of PNB closed 4.76 per cent higher at ₹101.15 per share on Friday at Bombay Stock Exchange.
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