PNB remains ahead of ICICI in biz mix

Punjab National Bank (PNB) marches ahead of the country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank in terms of total business,though it witnessed lesser increase in profit during the quarter ended June 30.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) marches ahead of the country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank in terms of total business,though it witnessed lesser increase in profit during the quarter ended June 30.

Defying the impact of economic slowdown,several banks including HDFC Bank,Bank of India,Union Bank of India posted double-digit growth in profit.

However,many others have also reported jump in non-performing assets. These include PNB,Canara Bank,Central Bank of India and Union Bank of India.

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In terms of total business,PNB clocked Rs 6.79 lakh crore much ahead of the its private sector peer ICICI Bank with a total business mix of Rs 5.36 lakh crore at the end of June 2012.

Thus,the difference between these two banks in terms of total business,which include deposits and loans,is about Rs 1.43 lakh crore at the end of first quarter.

PNB overtook ICICI Bank as the second largest bank in the country in March 2010 and has constantly increased margin.

The country’s largest bank,State Bank of India is yet to declare its quarterly numbers.

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However,total business of SBI stood at Rs 19.37 lakh crore at the end of March 2012.

Driven by increase in core interest income,ICICI Bank has made more profit at Rs 1,815 crore,registering a growth of 36 per cent over the first quarter of the previous fiscal.

At the same time,the gross NPAs of ICICI Bank came down to 3.54 per cent at the end of June 30 against 4.36 per cent at the end of first quarter of the previous fiscal.

The closest competitor of ICICI Bank,PNB recorded 13 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 1,246 crore in the first quarter even as gross NPA rose by over 1 per cent.

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The gross NPA of PNB as a proportion of advances went up significantly to 3.34 per cent against 2 per cent at the end of June last year. Net NPA also rose to 1.68 per cent during the period from 0.86 per cent in the same period of previous year.

Another public sector bank which recorded over 1 per cent increase in gross NPA was Central Bank of India. The bank’s gross NPA surged to 4.87 per cent against 2.29 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal.

While profit of Canara Bank rose by 7 per cent to Rs 775.28 crore at the end of the first quarter,the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 1.98 per cent from 1.69 per cent in the same quarter year-ago.

In absolute terms,the gross NPA of the Union Bank of India rose to Rs 6,541.45 crore against Rs 3,745.10 crore at the end of first quarter of the previous fiscal.

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Bank of India reported a hefty 74 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 887.45 crore for the first quarter against Rs 517.53 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Private sector HDFC Bank posted 30.6 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 1,417.4 crore for the first quarter ended June,2012.