Fraud-hit PNB loss widens to Rs 45.32 billion on bad loans, stock falls

The bank earned Rs 4 billion in the first half of the current financial year

Higher provisioning for bad debts and subdued treasury operations widened fraud-hit Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) net loss to Rs 45.32 billion in the second quarter of the current financial year against Rs 9.4 billion in the previous quarter.

This was the third consecutive quarter where PNB had posted a net loss. The bank saw Rs 134.17 billion net loss in the fourth quarter of 2017-18. That was the first quarter in the aftermath of the Rs 148-billion Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi fraud that had hit the bank. Since then, PNB has been making net losses. Shares of PNB declined 5.20 per