Punjab National Bank logs loss of Rs 492 cr in Q3, asset quality improves

State lender Punjab National Bank Tuesday reported a standlone net loss of Rs 492 crore in the December quarter of FY20 (Q3FY20) on account of higher provisions during the recently concluded quarter. However, the bank's asset quality improved on, both, yearly and sequential basis.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (GNPA) came in at Rs 76,809.20 crore for Q3FY20, down from Rs 77,733.33 crore reported in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, the GNPAs declined from 79,458.09 crore reported in Q2FY20. The net NPA (NNPA), meanwhile, stood at Rs 30,518.92 crore, down 14.4 per cent YoY and  6.5 per cent QoQ.

In terms of ratio, the GNPA for the recently concluded quarter improved sequentially, but was flat YoY, to 16.3 per cent. The NNPA ratio was 7.18 per cent.

The bank reported fresh slippages of Rs 6,700 crore in the December quarter of FY20. The provisions, on the other hand, came in at Rs 4,146.04 crore, up from Rs 2,753.84 crore provided for in Q3FY19, and Rs 2,928.90 crore in Q2FY20.

On the downside, the bank's net loss stood at Rs 492.28 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against a profit of Rs 246.51 crore in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, the bank had logged a profit of Rs 507.05 crore in the September quarter of FY20. 

Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, however, had projected a jump of 162 per cent in the net profit at Rs 646.1 crore for the recently concluded quarter. “PNB, similar to other corporate banks, should see benefit from recovery from NCLT and slippages should be slightly lower as last quarter impact was from daily tagging of NPAs and hence credit cost will come off and see improvement in provision coverage ratio (PCR),” they had written in a results preview note.

That apart, the bank's net interest income (NII) stood at Rs 4,355.05 crore for the quarter under review, up 1.5 per cent YoY, from Rs 4,290.05 crore earned in Q3FY19. It came in-line with the analysts' estimates.

Analysts at Emkay Global had expected the NII to rise marginally to Rs 4,370.7 crore during the quarter under review, up 1.9 per cent YoY and 2.5 per cent QoQ.

At 2:19 pm, the stock erased all the gains logged during the dya, and was trading 1.22 per cent lower at Rs 56.65. Incomparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was ruling 2.15 per cent higher at 40,729.54 level. In the intra-day trade, the stock hit a high of Rs 58.95 apiece.