PNB March-quarter net profit down 21 percent

REUTERS - Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's No. 2 state-owned bank, on Thursday posted a 20.6 percent fall in net profit for the quarter ended March, dragged down by higher provisions for bad loans.

The bank posted a profit of 11.3 billion rupees for the January-March period compared with 14.2 billion rupees a year earlier. Net interest income rose 14.2 percent during the quarter. Non-performing loans at the bank rose to 4.27 percent from 2.93 percent a year ago.

Earlier this month, PNB's state-owned rival Canara Bank posted a 12.6 percent fall in net profit. Smaller lenders Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank saw net profit fall about 68 and 80 percent respectively.

Government-owned lenders, exposed to the beleaguered state electricity boards, troubled power and infrastructure projects, and several other debt-laden firms, have pledged to boost recovery efforts and reign in defaults. (Reporting by Swati Pandey in MUMBAI; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)