PNB net climbs 18.6% in Q4; maintains dividend at 220%

Faced with increased non-performing assets (NPAs), public sector lender Punjab National Bank has decided to focus its attention on improving recoveries.

Towards this end, the bank has set up dedicated teams at the level of general managers for better NPA management, Mr K. R. Kamath, PNB's Chairman and Managing Director, said here on Wednesday.

For the first time, Mr Kamath, who had all along maintained that the situation was not that alarming as long as Gross NPAs were less than two per cent, said that he was worried about the NPA situation.

The loan quality is a direct reflection of the state of the economy, Mr Kamath said at a press conference to announce the fourth quarter results. He highlighted that many industries are facing tough times mainly due to the economic slowdown.

The bank is taking concerted steps to tackle the situation and in the first 40 days of this fiscal there has been up-gradation and recoveries to the tune of about Rs 390 crore, he added.

From Rs 4,379 crore in the beginning of fiscal 2011-12, gross NPAs have gone up to Rs 8,719 crore as of end-March 2012. As a percentage of advances, it stood at 2.93 per cent in end March 2012, much higher than the 1.79 % at end-March 2011. Net NPAs more than doubled to Rs 4,454.24 crore (Rs 2,038.68 crore)

KINGFISHER, AN NPA

The debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines is now an NPA for PNB. This bank has an exposure of about Rs 600 crore in Kingfisher Airlines. This account was restructured in the third quarter and became a NPA for the bank in the March quarter.

In 2011-12, PNB had restructured advances to the tune of Rs 15,334 crore, of which, Rs 6,874 crore was for power and Rs 2,245 crore for the aviation sector. Three State electricity boards (Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu) and two aviation companies benefited from the restructuring move, bank officials said.

Meanwhile, aided by write-back of depreciation in investments, PNB has reported a 18.58 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended March 31,2012, at Rs 1,424.06 crore (Rs 1,200.89 crore).

PNB's Board of directors on Wednesday declared a dividend of 220 per cent (Rs 22 per share), the same as in the previous year.

Mr Kamath gave a net interest margin (NIM) guidance of 3.5 per cent for the current fiscal. For 2011-12, the bank achieved an NIM of 3.84 per cent.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in