For the January-March 2019 quarter, Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a net loss of Rs 4,750 crore on Tuesday. An improvement in asset quality and provision coverage ratio was also seen for the quarter under review.

In the corresponding period last year, the public sector bank posted a massive loss of Rs 13,417 crore, on account of the fraud allegedly led by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi that was discovered in the same quarter.

PNB's provision for the third quarter of 2018-19 declined to Rs 7,611 crore from Rs 12,970 crore, indicating better recovery.

The lender's net interest income rose by 37.1 percent to Rs 4,200 crore in the March-ended quarter from a year ago. Net interest margin, a measure of profitability, increased to 2.45 percent from 1.90 percent in the same period last year.

PNB reported three consecutive quarterly losses post the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi fraud case, posting a profit only in the October-December quarter. Its provision coverage ratio rose to 74.5 percent in the March quarter as against 68.9 percent in the December but its net interest margin contracted sequentially to 2.45 percent against 2.64 percent.

Shares of PNB were trading 4.93 percent lower at Rs 85.65 around 2.16 pm on Tuesday.

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