Punjab National Bank Q4 Results: Net Profit Jumps Over Fivefold To Rs 1,159 Crore

Punjab National Bank on Friday reported an over five-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 1,159 crore for the March 2023 quarter, helped by lower bad loans and a rise in interest income.

The state-owned bank had earned a standalone net profit of Rs 202 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, the bank's total income increased to Rs 27,269 crore from Rs 21,095 crore a year ago, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

Interest income grew to Rs 23,849 crore during the period under review, compared to Rs 18,645 crore in the year-ago period.

The bank's board has recommended a dividend of Rs 0.65 per share, or 32.5% of Rs 2 face value, out of the net profits for the year ended March 31, 2023.

|Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were reduced to 8.74% of gross advances as of March 31, 2023, from 11.78% by the end of March 2022.

Net NPAs also came down to 2.72% of the advances from 4.8% at the end of 2022.

The fall in the bad loan ratio helped cut the provisions for NPAs for Q4FY23 to Rs 3,625 crore compared to Rs 4,564 crore a year ago.

However, the bank reported a 27% decline in net profit for the entire financial year 2022–23 to Rs 2,507 crore against Rs 3,457 crore in the same period a year ago.