Q4 results: Punjab & Sind Bank net profit jumps 32% to Rs 457 crore

NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, MAY 3

Punjab & Sind Bank on Tuesday reported a 32 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, at ₹457 crore (₹346 crore). The public sector bank recorded a net profit of ₹373 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2022.

For the quarter under review, PSB’s total income stood at ₹2,652 crore, up 32 per cent over ₹2,008 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. For the entire fiscal year 2022-23, PSB has recorded a highest-ever net profit of ₹1,313 crore, up 26.37 per cent over net profit of ₹1,039 crore in the previous fiscal.

• Bank surpasses the targets in Priority Sector Advance which stands at 54.99% and Agriculture Advance at 20.67% of ANBC, as on March 2023, against the regulatory target of 40% and 18% respectively.
• Credit to Small and Marginal farmers stands at 11.06% of ANBC, against the regulatory target of 9.50%.
• Punjab & Sind Bank is awaiting govt nod for ₹250-cr capital mop up this fiscal:  Swarup Kumar Saha

The Board of Directors of the bank on Tuesday declared a dividend of ₹0.48 per equity share (4.8 per cent) of the face value of ₹10 each.

Saha also expressed confidence that PSB will be able to sustain its bottomline growth performance in the current fiscal as well.  With the government giving directions to banks to focus on recovery from written off accounts, PSB has already embarked on achieving milestones on this front, a senior bank official said.

“We will certainly be achieving this fiscal the 40 per cent guidance (recovery from written-off accounts) that the government is emphasising. We will be in fact, recovering more,” said Ramjas Yadav, Executive Director, PSB.

Saha highlighted that the bank had handsome recovery in written off accounts in the March 2023 quarter. “As industry scales up in recovery of written off accounts, we will also scale up,” he added.

It has written to the government seeking approval for a capital raising of ₹250 crore this fiscal, its Managing Director & CEO Swarup Kumar Saha said on Tuesday.

“Our merchant bankers are also nearly on board. We were waiting for the results. We will now move on that story. Once we get the nod from the majority stakeholder (government we will start working on that,“ Saha said.

The timing of the issue will depend on the market conditions, he said. PSB is primarily looking for equity raising, but options are open for both (debt and equity), Saha added.

Saha also said that PSB will this year aim for credit growth of about 13 percent and continue its enhanced focus on retail (RAM) segment. PSB is aiming for net interest margin of over 2.95 percent this fiscal, he added. The bank aims to have 55:45 percent share by the end of this fiscal between retail and corporate segment for its loan book, Saha added.

Q4 FY 2023 Key Highlights (Y-o-Y)