**Punjab National Bank Reports Over Twofold Increase in Q3 Net Profit to ₹4,508 Crore**
New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) – Punjab National Bank (PNB), a state-owned financial institution, announced a significant increase in its net profit for the third quarter ending December 2024, reaching ₹4,508 crore, more than double the ₹2,223 crore reported in the same quarter last year. This surge in profit was driven by a reduction in bad loans and a rise in core income.
The bank’s total income rose to ₹34,752 crore, up from ₹29,962 crore in the corresponding period last year. Interest income also saw an increase, climbing to ₹31,340 crore from ₹27,288 crore in the previous fiscal’s third quarter. Net Interest Income (NII) improved by 7.2%, reaching ₹11,032 crore in Q3 FY25 compared to ₹10,293 crore in Q3 FY24, as stated by PNB’s Managing Director and CEO, Ashok Chandra, during a media briefing.
In terms of asset quality, PNB’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio decreased to 4.09% from 6.24% a year ago, while net NPAs fell to 0.41% from 0.96% at the end of the third quarter of the previous fiscal year. Consequently, provisions for bad loans significantly dropped to ₹318 crore from ₹2,994 crore in the same quarter last year.
Chandra also mentioned that the bank aims to double its recovery target from technically written-off accounts to approximately ₹1,600 crore in the fourth quarter, following a recovery of ₹823 crore in the third quarter. The Net Interest Margin is projected to remain between 2.9% and 3% for the current financial year. The Provision Coverage Ratio, including technically written-off accounts, improved to 96.77% as of December 31, 2024, compared to 94.28% a year earlier.
PNB’s total business grew by 15.25% to ₹26,39,991 crore from ₹22,90,742 crore, with deposits increasing by 15.58% to ₹15,29,699 crore and advances rising by 14.79% to ₹11,10,292 crore as of December 31, 2024. The Capital Adequacy Ratio also improved to 15.41%, up from 14.63% in December 2023.
Additionally, PNB has raised its Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rate (MCLR) by 5 basis points across all tenors, effective February 1.