PNB Q1 profit rises 10 pc to Rs 1,405 cr

State-owned Punjab National Bank today posted a 10.2 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 1,405 crore during the April-June quarter, helped by a rise in interest income.
The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,275 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The total income rose to Rs 12,825.13 crore as against Rs 11,747 crore in the same quarter a year ago, PNB Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath said here.
Interest income increased by 11.4 per cent to Rs 11,589 crore against Rs 10,405 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.

The gross non-performance assets (NPA) as a proportion of advances went up significantly to 5.28 per cent against 4.84 per cent at the end of June last year. Net NPA also rose to 3.02 per cent from 2.98 per cent.
In absolute terms, the gross NPA rose by 30 per cent to Rs 19,603 crore while net NPA increased by 15 per cent to Rs 10,464 crore at the end of June 2014 on year-on-year basis.

"The area of NPA continues to engage our full attention. We have adopted consolidation policy...Next quarter NPA number should be quite better," he said.

However, net interest income improved by 12.1 per cent to Rs 4,380 crore as compared to Rs 3,908 crore in the same period a year ago.
Net interest margin declined marginally to 3.42 per cent from 3.52 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.
Total business of the bank, as on June 30, stood at Rs 7,92,405 crore, as against Rs 7,02,007 crore at end of first quarter of in 2013-14, registering 12.9 per cent growth.
On credit and deposit growth in the current fiscal, Kamath said, it should be between 15-16 per cent.
"RBI has indicated credit deposit growth of 15-16 per cent for the current fiscal. Definitely, we should not be less than that," he said.

Asked about whether the bank is looking at acquisition of any bank in view of budget announcement, he said: "We are not looking at this at the moment. We need to get more clarity on that and then we will take a call."
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget speech 2014-15 had said: "There have been some suggestions for consolidation of public sector banks. Government, in principle, agrees to consider these suggestions."
Capital adequacy of the bank at the end of June 2014, as per Basel-III norms, was 11.52 per cent.
Shares of PNB closed at Rs 924 per unit, down 0.51 per cent on the BSE.