PNB stock slumps 9% to hit 52-week low

Shares of Punjab National Bank today slumped as much as 9 per cent to hit their 52-week low level in morning trade on bourses after the lender said the amount of fraudulent transactions could be as much as Rs 12,700 crore.

Shares of the company opened weak at Rs 107.80, then cracked 8.75 per cent to a 52-week low of Rs 102.10 on the BSE.

Similar movement was seen on the NSE too, where the stock opened at Rs 106.80, then fell to its 52-week low of Rs 102, down 8.92 per cent over its previous close.

Amid the multi-agency probe into the PNB scam, the state-run bank yesterday said the amount of fraudulent transactions could be Rs 1,300 crore more than the current estimate of about Rs 11,400 crore.

On February 14, the bank had detected the fraud wherein billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and associates had allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from one of the branches of the PNB for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

"...We have to inform that quantum of reported unauthorised transactions can increase by USD 204.25 million (approximately)," the filing said.
At the current exchange rate, the amount comes to around Rs 1,323 crore. 

Meanwhile, amid the multi-agency probe into the PNB scam, the state-run bank said the amount of fraudulent transactions could be Rs 1,300 crore more than the current estimate of about Rs 11,400 crore.

The latest announcement from the public sector lender assumes significance against the backdrop of the probe going on into the Rs 11,400 crore scam, which is already one of the biggest in the Indian banking sector.

On February 14, the bank had detected the fraud wherein billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and associates had allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from one of the branches of the PNB for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.