Punjab & Sind Bank Q4 loss widens to Rs 236 cr as provisions for NPAs rise

Punjab & Sind Bank on Tuesday reported widening of loss to Rs 236.30 crore for the fourth quarter of 2019-20 as provisions for bad loans rose.

The public sector bank had posted a loss of Rs 58.57 crore in January-March, 2018-19.

Total income declined to Rs 2,289.43 crore in the three months to March against Rs 2,304.37 crore in the year-ago period, Punjab & Sind Bank said in a regulatory filing.

During the quarter, the bank earned an operating profit of Rs 429.75 crore as against Rs 404.13 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

On the assets quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 14.18 per cent of gross advances at the end of March 2020, as against 11.83 per cent by the same period last year.

Net NPAs also increased to 8.03 per cent as against 7.22 per cent in the year-ago period.

As a result of this, provisions for bad loans during the March quarter more than doubled to Rs 683.80 crore, compared to Rs 312.09 crore in the year-ago period.

Provision other than tax and contingencies too declined to Rs 817.83 crore from Rs 433.76 crore in the same period a year ago.

In the full fiscal, the bank's loss increased Rs 990.80 crore, as against Rs 543.48 crore in 2018-19. Total income during the year declined to Rs 8,826.92 crore from Rs 9,386.95 crore a year earlier.

Interest Income of the bank too came down to Rs 7,929.53 crore in 2019-20 from Rs 8,558.67 crore in the preceding financial year.