Punjab National Bank rebounds on improved assets quality

Gross NPA of the bank have come down from 4.61% at the end of Q3FY13 to 4.27% in the recently concluded quarter.

Punjab National Bank has moved higher by 5.2% to Rs 788, bouncing back 7.5% from intra-day low, after the bank has seen it assets quality improving on sequential basis, while maintaining topline growth rate.

The stock opened at Rs 753 and hit a low of Rs 733 on NSE before the announcement of results. A combined 4.64 million shares changed hands on the counter till noon deals on NSE and BSE.

The bank’s net interest income (interest income minus interest expanded) for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 increased by 14.2% to Rs 3,779 crore on year-on-year (yoy) basis.

The asset quality has also improved on a sequential basis at the gross as well as net levels. The Gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank have come down from 4.61% at the end of Q3FY13 to 4.27% in the recently concluded quarter.  In the same period, its Net NPAs were down to 2.35% from 2.56%. 

Meanwhile, the state-owned bank has reported 20.6% yoy fall in net profit at Rs 1,131 crore, due to higher provisioning and staff cost. 

The board has recommended a dividend of 270% or Rs 27 per equity share of Rs 10 each of the FY 2012-13.