Punjab National Bank, a state-owned lender, posted a 12.8% rise in net profit for the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, driven by stronger core income and a notable fall in provisions set aside against potential loan losses, though the pace of new loan slippages edged slightly higher. Net profit attributable to the government-owned bank on a standalone basis reached ₹5,532 crore over the three months through September 30, up from ₹4,904 crore recorded in the same period a year earlier. Measured against the same quarter a year earlier, the gap between interest collected and interest paid out widened by 10.8%, lifting Net Interest Income to ₹11,601 crore from a prior-year base of ₹10,469 crore. The lending profitability gauge known as Net Interest Margin moved to 2.58%, adding 8 basis points over the prior three-month period that closed in June, when the figure had stood at 2.50%. Quarterly operating profit climbed to ₹7,532 crore, a 4.2% uptick against the ₹7,227 crore posted in the corresponding period a year earlier. Loan-quality readings moved in a healthier direction over the period, with the share of non-performing debt edging lower from one quarter to the next. Measured against the 2.78% reading posted at the close of the June quarter, the Gross Non-Performing Assets ratio edged down by 23 basis points, settling at 2.55% as of 30 September. Edging down by three basis points relative to the prior quarter, the Net Non-Performing Assets ratio settled at 0.25%, having stood at 0.28% in the preceding period. Loan-loss allocations for the quarter came in at ₹97 crore, a figure that represents a drop of roughly 85% against the ₹643 crore set aside during the same three-month period a year earlier. Compared with the prior quarter, loan-loss provisions dropped by 82.1%, down from ₹541 crore recorded in Q1. Loan accounts newly classified as non-performing ticked upward even as the broader bad-debt ratio continued its downward path. Tallied across the July-to-September window, new loan deterioration reached ₹2,233 crore — a figure that outpaced the preceding quarter's ₹1,996 crore by 11.9% and stood 23.2% above the ₹1,812 crore recorded in the same three-month stretch a year earlier.
