Signalling a turnaround, Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), a public sector lender, on Saturday reported a net profit of ₹161- crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021 as compared to net loss of ₹236 crore in the same quarter last year. This is the first quarterly profit for the bank after eight consecutive quarters of net losses.

“We are confident of sustaining the latest quarterly performance in this fiscal also. We will be able to achieve profits in each of the quarters this fiscal,” S Krishnan, MD & CEO, PSB, told BusinessLine .

Full-year loss widens

For the full year 2020-21, however, there has been a net loss of ₹2,733 crore, which widened from year ago’s net loss of ₹ 991 crore.

Asked as what contributed to the turnaround in Q4 of 2020-21, Krishnan said the main reason was strong focus on recoveries besides a bunch of factors including emphasis on cost optimisation and revenue maximisation in certain segments. The Centre’s move to pump in ₹5,500 crore capital also helped strengthen the balance sheet, he added.

Also read: Punjab & Sind Bank declares loans worth ₹150 cr to IL&FS Transportation as fraud

Total income for the quarter under review was down 15.2 per cent to ₹1,940 crore (₹2,289 crore). For the fiscal 2020-21, total income declined 10.8 per cent to ₹7,877 crore (₹8,827 crore).

Krishnan said the bank — which now had capital adequacy ratio of 17.06 per cent — was not looking to raise capital this year. The Centre’s shareholding in the bank stood at 97 per cent post the recent ₹5,500-crore capital infusion.

Net NPA saw a steep decline during 2020-21 to 4.04 per cent from 8.03 per cent as on March 31, 2020. Gross NPA as percentage of advances saw modest decline of 42 basis points to 13.76 per cent in end March 2021 from 14.18 per cent as on March 31, 2020.

Krishnan said the bank would in the first half of this fiscal focus on improving its IT infrastructure (for digital banking) besides providing an omni-channel service offering to customers.

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