: Retail, Agriculture and MSME business grew by 6.37%, reports Punjab & Sind Bank #finance #StockMarketNEWS Retail, Agriculture and MSME business grew by 6. 37%, reports Punjab & Sind Bank New Delhi,

Retail, Agriculture and MSME business grew by 6.37%, reports Punjab & Sind Bank #finance #StockMarketNEWS
Retail, Agriculture and MSME business grew by 6. 37%, reports Punjab & Sind Bank New Delhi, Feb 8 (KNN) State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) reported a net profit of Rs 301 crore for the quarter ending December 2021 as the lender saw good growth in overall business and better cash recoveries following its turnaround strategy started a year back.

Gross advances grew by 3. 26 per cent to Rs 66,710 crore in Q3 FY22. RAM (Retail, Agriculture and MSME) business grew by 6. 37 per cent.

Retail, agriculture and MSME loan portfolios grew by 12. 15 per cent, 3. 53 per cent and 4. 06 per cent, respectively.

The bank is ensuring that the balance sheet is strengthened, the focus is also on Retail, agriculture and MSME and "we are bringing down the corporate (portofolio) to avoid concentration risk", Krishnan added.

The lender continued its special focus on retail business, as a result of which RAM advances have grown from 48 per cent to 50 per cent, while corporate advances declined from 52 per cent to 50 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

The lender had posted a net loss of Rs 2,376 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Sequentially, the net profit was up by 38. 1 per cent from Rs 218 crore in the quarter ended September 2021.

"The bank was undergoing a turbulent time a year before and then the bank turned around in the quarter ended March 2021 after a consecutive loss for about eight quarters.

"Since then, the bank has been continuously making profits. Having said that, if we look into Q3FY22, it is one of the highest bottomline that we have. The net profit is at Rs 301 crore while a year before it was a huge loss," S Krishnan, MD and CEO, Punjab & Sind Bank said during a media conference after the earnings announcement.

The banks provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to Rs 325 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 1,482 crore reserved for the same period of the previous fiscal.

However, the gross non-performing assets showed a slight deterioration at 14. 44 per cent of the gross advances as of December 31, 2021, from 13. 14 per cent a year ago. But it improved quarter-on-quarter from 14. 54 per cent at the end of September 2021, He added.

Krishnan said the rise in NPA when compared year-on-year is attributable to the Supreme Court order post the pandemic that had restrained banks from declaring assets as non-performing.

"All those accounts were only recognised in March 2021 when the Supreme Court lifted the order. Hence, the December 2021 quarter was abnormally low," he noted.

He further said the bank has transformed by changing its strategy completely, both on the business and IT front.