A bad, bad way to end the year for PSU banks

Ritesh Presswalamoneycontrol.com Most public sector banks saw their profits shrink thanks to higher provisions and a substantial increase in non-performing assets.State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) posted a net loss of Rs 5,367.14 crore in the January-March quarter of FY16, which was the highest ever loss reported by an Indian bank against a profit of Rs 306.56 crore in the year-ago period. India's largest lender State of Bank of India's (SBI) fourth quarter standalone profits in FY16 fell sharply by 66 percent to Rs 1,263.8 crore against Rs 3742 crore in the year-ago period.In order to understand the numbers behind the slippages at these banks, moneycontrol analysed a few banks in the BSE Bankex list. Findings reveal SBI and PNB were right up there on top of the list of banks with most non-performing assets (NPA). SBI's NPAs stood at Rs 98173 crore and PNB's at Rs 55818 crore.