Punjab National Bank(PNB) Q4 Net profit zooms 160%

Punjab National Bank on May 9 reported a 160 percent surge in its net profit to Rs 3,010.27 crore in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24.

On a sequential basis, the state-run lender's net profit zoomed 35 percent.

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In the reporting quarter, the bank's gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio stood at 5.73 percent, as against 6.24 percent a quarter ago, and 8.74 percent last year.

Its net NPA stood at 0.73 percent as on March 31, 2024, as against 0.96 percent in the previous quarter and 2.72 percent in the year-ago period.

In absolute terms, gross NPA declined by Rs 20,985 crore to Rs 56,343 crore as on March 2024 from Rs 77,328 crore as on March 2023. Net NPA declined by Rs 15,786 crore from March 2023 to Rs 6,799 crore as on March 2024.

Provision Coverage Ratio (including TWO) improved by 849 basis points (bps) on-year to 95.39 percent as on March 2024. Provision Coverage Ratio (Excluding TWO) improved by 171 bps to 87.9 percent from 70.8 percent in March 2023.

Slippage ratio improved on-year by 159 bps to 0.72 percent in FY24 from 2.31 percent in FY23.

Savings Deposits increased to Rs 4.80 lakh crore registering a on-year growth of 3.5 percent. Current Deposits grew by Rs 3,565 crore as on March 2024 to Rs 72,201 crore on Quarter-on-Quarter basis.

CASA Deposits increased to Rs 5.53 lakh crore recording a on-year growth of 2.7 percent.

Total Retail credit increased by 12.6 percent to Rs 2.23 lakh crore in March 2024.

The bank grew impressively under Core Retail recording a on-year growth of 15.2 percent.

Within Core Retail Credit, Housing Loan grew by 14.5 percent to Rs 93,694 crore, vehicle loan posted a growth of 25.6 percent to reach Rs 20,692 crore, and personal loan increased by 14.4 percent to Rs 20,766 crore.

Agriculture Advances grew by 11.3 percent on-year to Rs 1.58 lakh crore and MSME Advances increased on-year by 7.0 percent to Rs 1.39 lakh crore in March 2024.

Domestic Net Interest Margin stands at 3.25 percent in Q4 FY24.

Global Yield on Advances improved on-year by 50 bps to 8.44 percent in Q4 FY24 and by 112 bps to 8.28 percent in FY24.

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State Bank of India(SBI) Q4 net profit rises 24%

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on May 9 reported 24 percent rise in net profit at Rs 20,698 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, aided by strong loan demand. SBI reported net profit of Rs 16,695 crore in the year-ago period.

The profit surpassed estimates of Rs 13,400 crore by analysts.

The public lender declared dividend of Rs 13.7o per share for FY24.

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At 1410 hours on May 9, SBI's shares were trading nearly 3 percent higher at Rs 834.40 apiece.

The bank's asset quality improved in March quarter. The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) of SBI came in at 2.24 percent as against 2.78 percent last year, while net NPA came in at 0.57 percent compared to 0.67 percent last year.

SBI loan growth remained strong in the March quarter and it clocked one of the best growth in over eight quarters. The bank also saw an impressive 36-quarter low in terms of ratio between gross and net NPAs.

SBI's interest earned grew 19 percent to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the reported quarter as against Rs 92,951 crore a year ago.

"Credit growth is at 15.24 percent YoY with domestic advances growing by 16.26 percent YoY. Corporate advances and agri advances cross Rs 11 lakh crore and Rs 3 lakh crore, respectively," said SBI in a stock exchange filing.

In Q4FY24, total income rose to Rs 1.28 lakh crore from Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the year-ago period, while operating expenses grew at a relatively slower rate at Rs 30,276 crore from the year-ago period's Rs 29,732 crore.

The overall provisions nearly halved to Rs 1,609 crore from Rs 3,315 crore in the year-ago period.

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Canara Bank Q4 net profit rises 18.4%, asset quality improves; declares declared

Public sector lender Canara Bank on Wednesday reported its March 2024 quarter net profit at ₹3,757 crore, up 18% year-on-year (YoY). The figure was in line with CNBC-TV18's estimate of ₹3,753.6 crore. The same was ₹3,174.7 crore in the same quarter last year.

The bank's net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 11% YoY to ₹9,580 crore for the reporting quarter. It was ₹8,616.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.

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Canara Bank improved its asset quality over a year ago period as gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio reduced to 4.23% in the quarter under review, as against 4.39% in a quarter ago period, and 5.35% in a year ago period.

The lender's net NPA ratio stood at 1.27% as on March 31, 2024, compared to 1.32% in the last quarter and 1.73% in a year-ago period.

The provision coverage ratio (PCR) stood at 89.10% as of March 2024 as against 89.01% as of December 2023, 87.31% as of March 2023.

Canara Bank's loan growth was weak. Its guidance for loan growth is weaker for FY25 as against FY24 loan growth.

FY25 guidance:

Deposit growth of 10% (11.3% in FY24)

Advances growth of 10% (11.34% in FY24)

CASA ratio at 33% vs 32.29% in FY24

NIM at 2.9% vs 3.05% in FY24

GNPA ratio at 3.5% vs 4.23% in FY24

NNPA ratio at 1.1% vs 1.27% in FY24

Slippage ratio at 1.3% vs 1.28% in FY24

Credit cost at 1.1% vs 0.96% in FY24

ROA at 1% vs 1.01% in FY24

ROE at 18% vs 22.06% in FY24

The bank has also recommended a dividend of ₹16.10 per equity share of face value of ₹10 each to the shareholders for the year 2023-24.

Record Date for payment of dividend will be Monday, June 17, 2024, the bank said.

This will result in a dividend payout of 161%, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

The dividend will be subject to the approval of shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the bank.

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RBI's draft on tighter norms for infra project financing; what will its impact be?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a draft proposing tighter norms for lending and heightened monitoring for under-construction infrastructure projects.

On May 3, the RBI proposed that lenders should set aside higher provisions for all infrastructure projects that are under-construction, and also asked the lenders to ensure strict monitoring of any emerging stress.

Nifty PSU Bank index plunged around 3.2 percent. The top laggards on the index were Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank, all slumping over four percent.

NBFCs such as REC, Power Finance and IREDA also crashed up to 12 percent as they are they focus on financing power projects, which are a significant part of the infrastructure pie.

Public-sector lenders are disproportionally impacted since public banks have a higher exposure to infrastructure loans.

The RBI note highlighted that the proposal was "taking into account the experience of banks with regard to financing of project loans."

Currently, India is seeing a boom in infrastructure and manufacturing projects, led by the central government's drive to boost the economy.

However, in the past, the domestic banking sector has faced large defaults on infrastructure loans, which pressured the banking system. RBI’s  proposed guidelines are an attempt to prevent any such cases reoccurring, given the ongoing thrust on infrastructure spending.

When a project is in the construction phase, the RBI proposed that lenders set aside a provision of five percent of the loan amount. This will reduced to 2.5 percent once a project is operational.

The required provisions will further be cut to one percent once the project has adequate cash flow to repay current obligations.

The lenders are required to make the five percent provision in a phased manner: two percent in FY25, 3.5 percent in FY26 and five percent by FY27.

Currently, lenders are required to have a provision of 0.4 percent on project loans that are not overdue or stressed.

Also, banks should have clear visibility on the date on which a project is expected to begin commercial operations and increase provisions in case operations are delayed. Any delay over three years in beginning an infrastructure project should change the classification of the loan from standard to stressed.

A Kotak Institutional Equities report said "the memories of the last corporate cycle are quite fresh." This, in turn, has created fresh concerns around the guidelines. However, the report noted that infrastructure loans in the banking system are relatively small at 8 percent of all loans compared to over 15 percent in FY15.

Additionally, the mix of these loans has a higher share of operational loans rather than under construction loans. Besides, the promoters that worked through the last corporate cycle have stronger balance sheets, added the brokerage.

JM Financial said the move will lead to lower returns for lenders in project finance and reduce the incremental appetite for such exposures, if the guidelines are implemented in the current form.

It is a prudent move from the risk management perspective, but it could be detrimental to growth in the infrastructure sector as it is capital-intensive.

When compared to private lenders, public-sector banks will see a larger impact if the draft is implemented. In a report, Kotak Institutional Equities noted that public banks have a higher exposure to infrastructure loans and less to commercial real estate.

On the other hand, private banks take an exposure to the sector through financing operational assets, instead of funding projects under construction.

JM Financial predicted that if the guidelines are implemented, the incremental credit costs for public sector banks would increased in the range of  12-21 bps.

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Indian Bank Q4 Net profit jumps 55%

Public sector lender Indian Bank reported a 55 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 2,247 crore in March quarter of 2023-24.

The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,447 crore in March quarter of the preceding fiscal.

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Total income increased to Rs 16,887 crore in March quarter of FY24, from Rs 14,238 crore in the fourth quarter of FY23.

Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 9 per cent YoY to Rs 6,015 crore in March quarter of FY24, from Rs 5,508 crore in March quarter of FY23.

For full 2023-24 fiscal, net profit went up by 53 per cent YoY to Rs 8,063 crore, from Rs 5,282 crore in FY23.

Total income for FY24 increased to Rs 63,482 crore, from Rs 52,085 crore in FY23.

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Will Bank Employees Get A 5-Days Banking ? Yes or No

The demand for a 5-day work week by bank employees is likely to be fulfilled soon, as an agreement in this regard has already been signed between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and employee unions. Now, just the government’s approval is pending, which the bank employees expect to get through later in 2024.

Bank employee unions, like the United Forum of Bank Unions, have been pushing for a 5-day workweek with .......

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IDBI Bank's Q4 net profit surge 44%

IDBI Bank on Saturday posted a 44% increase in net profit at Rs 1,628 crore in Q4 of the financial year 2023-24 against Rs 1,133 crore in the same period a year ago.

The private lender's total income increased to Rs 7,887 crore from from Rs 7,014 crore in this period of the fiscal year 2022-23.

In 2022-23, its profit was at Rs 3,645 crore. Total income for fiscal year 2023-24 was at Rs 30,037 crore, up from Rs 24,942 crore in financial year 2022-23.

Net Interest Income of the bank increased by 12% in the March quarter to Rs 3,688 crore, as against Rs 3,280 crore in the fourth quarter of 2022-23.

Net non-performing assets (NPA) ratio was at 0.34 per cent as on March 31, 2024, against 0.92 which was a year ago.

The board of IDBI Bank following the announcement of the quarterly proposed a dividend of 15% subject to shareholders' approval.

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CBI files chargesheet against former CMD of PSU Bank

 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Alok Kumar Misra, the former chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bank of India (BOI) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), along with 33 other individuals and companies. This charge sheet is related to the alleged bank fraud committed by Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), which is worth nearly ₹35,000 crore. The fraud was allegedly carried out by the Wadhawan brothers, Kapil and Dheeraj, who ran DHFL. The charge sheet also exonerates 49 other companies that were originally named as accused in the case.

According to the CBI, Alok Kumar Misra allegedly received a benefit of ₹1.5 crore from DHFL in the form of a discounted flat for his son in Mumbai. This benefit was allegedly given to him in exchange for sanctioning loans in his capacity as the head of BOI and OBC. Misra served as the CMD of BOI from 2009 to 2012 and OBC from 2007 to 2009.

The CBI’s investigation revealed that between January 2010 and December 2019, a consortium of 17 banks extended credit facilities worth ₹42,871 crore to DHFL. The Wadhawan brothers allegedly siphoned off the funds to shell companies known as ‘Bandra Book Entities,’ causing a loss of ₹34,926 crore to the consortium. 

The charge sheet also names other companies and individuals who helped the Wadhawan brothers divert funds.

It is important to note that the charge sheet against Alok Kumar Misra was filed after obtaining sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which is mandatory for investigating a public servant. However, a sanction under section 19 of the PC Act, which is mandatory for prosecuting a public servant, is still pending.

The charge sheet was taken cognizance of by a Delhi court on April 27.

During its investigation, the CBI found that out of the 131 companies originally named in the first information report (FIR) filed in June 2022, 49 companies were “genuine” borrowers without any bad intentions. These companies had entered into actual loan transactions with DHFL, following the necessary procedures and guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

The court has exonerated these companies from any criminal liability based on the CBI’s findings. The CBI has identified genuine loan transactions worth ₹13,425 crore, out of which ₹5,836 crore has already been repaid by these 49 companies to DHFL or the Resolution Professional.

The CBI has filed 2,70,000 pages of fresh documentary evidence in 20 trunks in the court, along with a list of 521 new witnesses to support its case against the accused.

It is worth mentioning that Alok Kumar Misra has held several high-level positions in the banking sector, including the chairman and managing director of Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce.

The ownership of DHFL has changed since the bank fraud case came to light, as it was taken over and sold under India’s bankruptcy code.

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