PNB profit plunges

MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s fourth-biggest state-run lender by assets, posted a 93 per cent fall in quarterly profit and said it expected bad loans to rise further in the current quarter as a central bank-directed clean-up exercise continues. PNB shares fell as much as 6.5 per cent to INR 88.20 in Mumbai on Tuesday. Indian banks, burdened by their highest stressed-assets ratio in 13 years, have been asked by Reserve Bank of India to treat some troubled accounts as non-performing even if actual default has yet to happen and make adequate provisions.