PNB Reports Second Consecutive Quarterly Loss; Asset Quality Improves

Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a net loss of Rs 940 crore for the June 2018 ended quarter as against Rs 343 crore profit in the year-ago period, in a stock exchange filing. This is its second consecutive quarterly loss. In the previous quarter, it had reported its highest ever loss of Rs 13,417 crore owing to the frauds discovered during the same period.

The net interest income (NII) of the public sector bank has improved by 22 percent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 4,691.8 crore for the quarter under review. Its asset quality that was hit by one of India's largest banking frauds improved marginally as gross non-performing asset ratio narrowed to 18.26 percent from 18.38 percent in the previous quarter. Net NPA contracted to 10.58 percent from 11.24 percent. Provisions of the bank dropped sequentially to Rs 4,982 crore from Rs 16,203 crore.