Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), a public sector bank, reported a 115 per cent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022 at ₹346 crore (₹161 crore).
The latest quarterly bottomline performance was 15 per cent higher than the net profit of ₹301 crore recorded in the third quarter ended December 31,2021.
For the entire fiscal 2021-22, PSB reported a net profit of ₹1,039 crore against the net loss of ₹2,733 crore in 2020-21, showed the public sector lender’s filings with the stock exchanges.
Dividend announcement
The bank’s Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of ₹0.31 per equity share of ₹10 each (3.1 per cent ) for the year ended March 31,2022.
Commenting on the financial performance, S Krishnan, Managing Director & CEO, PSB said that the bank has been able to achieve robust recovery and also contain slippages during FY22.
He also said that the bank, would enhance its focus on retail credit, expects the credit growth of 8-10 per cent this fiscal.
Total income for the quarter under review grew 2.92 per cent to ₹2,008 crore (₹1,951 crore). It was, however, lower than the total income of ₹2,042 crore recorded in the previous December quarter.
The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) of the PSB came down to 12.17 per cent of gross advances from a level of 13.76 per cent in end March 2021. Gross NPA in value terms declined to ₹8,565 crore by end March 2022 against ₹9,384 crore as of end March 2021.
The net NPAs as a percentage of advances fell to 2.74 per cent (₹1,742 crore) from 4.04 per cent (₹2,462 crore) a year ago.