PNB Reports Net Loss of Rs 5367 Crores; Record For A Bank In India

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 13:25 [IST]

Government owned Punjab National Bank reported a net loss of Rs 5,367 crores for the quarter ending March 31, 2016, which was a new record quarterly loss for any bank in the country.

The banking sector has been badly hit by higher provisions and weak asset quality, which was reflected in losses reported by a host of government owned banks, including Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank.

Provisions at Punjab National Bank for the quarter ending March 31, 2016 increasd almost 3 times to Rs 10,485.23 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 3,775.53 crore in preceding quarter.

Net interest income at the bank was placed at Rs 2,767.7 crore, which was a drop over the previous quarter.

Shares of the bank, which rallied ahead of the results were trading almost flat. Most analysts believe that banks may have completed taking a hit due to provisioning and things are unlikely to get worse from here.

This resulted in the share seeing some recovery in intra day trade. Even Syndicate Bank, which reported results on Tuesday, saw a sharp rally in its share price after an initial drop, as the worst for the banking sector could be behind.

Losses for the banking sector have largely mounted, following higher provisioning norms suggested by the Reserve Bank of India.

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