Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a 66 percent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 202 crore for the fourth quarter of financial year 2021-22 on higher amounts parked towards provisioning, even as its NPA levels declined.
The PNB reported a net profit of Rs 586 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The total standalone income during the January-March quarter stood at Rs 21,095 crore, down from Rs 21,386 crore in the corresponding period last year.
For the entire fiscal 2021-22, the bank's standalone net profit rose to Rs 3,456.96 crore, compared to Rs 2,021.62 crore in FY21, according to a regulatory filing by PNB to the stock exchanges.
The asset quality of the lender improved, with the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) dropping to 11.78 percent of the gross advances as of March 2022, from 14.12 percent a year ago. PNB's net non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans also declined to 4.8 percent from 5.73 percent.
The lender kept a higher provision for bad loans and contingencies for the January-March quarter at Rs 4,851.47 crore, compared to Rs 3,540.32 crore earlier.
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The board of directors has recommended a dividend of Re 0.64 per equity share, 32 percent of face value of Rs 2 each for fiscal 2021-22, subject to the shareholders’ approval.
At 10:15 am, shares of Punjab National Bank traded 9.82 percent lower at Rs 29.85 on the BSE.