PNB net profit grows 4 times to Rs 207.18 crore in Oct-Dec

Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported over four-fold jump in net profit to Rs 207.18 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016-17, on account of lower provisioning.

PNB had reported net profit of Rs 51.1 crore for the October-December quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal.

The public sector lender's total income increased 4.36% to Rs 14,497.65 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 13,891.2 crore in the year-ago period.

Its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, as a percentage to total advances, rose to 13.70% from 8.47% in the same quarter of last fiscal.

Net NPAs went up to 9.09% from 5.86% at the end of December 2015, the bank said.

Total provisions, excluding tax, made during the third quarter of 2016-17 stood at Rs 2,935.86 crore as against Rs 3,775.53 crore in the year-ago period, down 22.23%.

Reacting to the bank's quarterly numbers, PNB's shares were trading 2.44% higher to Rs 153.30 on BSE. 

Rs 207.18 crore in the quarter-ended December 2016 compared to the Rs 51.01 crore posted in the same period last year, up four fold. 

The total income earned by the bank in the quarter grew to Rs 14,497.65 crore compared to Rs 13,891.20 crore posted in the same period last year, up 4.4%. 

The bank earned an interest of Rs 11,984.16 crore in the period, lesser than the Rs 12,220.60 crore earned in the same period last year. Total interest earned by the bank was down 1.9%. 

PNB's NPAs as a percentage of gross NPAs grew 13.70% compared to 8.47% in December 2015-end quarter.

The shares of PNB were trading at Rs 153.20 apiece, up Rs 3.55 or 2.37% from previous close.