Punjab & Sind Bank eyes ₹2,000-crore QIP fundraise in Q4FY25: MD & CEO Swarup Kumar Saha 

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Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) will tap the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) route to raise capital this quarter, its Managing Director Swarup Kumar Saha said on Wednesday. 

This State-owned lender is one of the five public sector banks which has got the Finance Ministry’s nod for a QIP mop-up of ₹2,000 crore. The other four banks that have received approval for similar QIPs are the Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank and Central Bank of India. 

Saha highlighted that the PSB Board had already approved capital mop up of ₹10,000 crore, including ₹ 5,000 crore as infrastructure bonds, ₹2,000 crore as QIP and the remaining ₹3,000 crore as Tier-1 or Tier-2 bonds. 

This fiscal, the bank has already raised infrastructure bonds worth ₹3,000 crore. “We now hope to complete the QIP of ₹2,000 crore this quarter. We always have room to raise more capital next fiscal too,” Saha added.

Q3 profit surges

Meanwhile, PSB on Wednesday reported a 147.37 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter that ended December 31, 2024 at ₹282 crore (₹114 crore). The latest bottomline was 17.50 per cent higher at ₹240 crore in the September 2024 quarter. 

For the nine months that ended December 31,2024, PSB has clocked a net profit of ₹703 crore (₹456 crore).

Saha said that the bank is now poised to record net profit in excess of ₹1,000 crore this fiscal. “We are confident that going by the current momentum, a net profit of ₹1,000 crore will be achieved for the full fiscal. For next fiscal, we will strive to surpass the ₹1,300-crore mark,” Saha said after the Q3 board meeting in the capital. 

Total income for the quarter under review grew 5.52 per cent to ₹3,269 crore (₹2,853 crore). Net interest income for the quarter under review grew 27.06 per cent to ₹939 crore. Operating profit for the third quarter increased 74.73 per cent to ₹484 crore. 

Saha also said that PSB aims to contain gross NPA below 3 per cent and net NPA below 1 per cent by March-end 2025. As of December-end 2024, net NPA was higher by 1.25 per cent (1.8 per cent in December 2023). Gross NPA in terms of percentage of advances as of December-end 2024 stood at 3.83, down from 5.7 per cent in December 2023.

Saha also said that PSB is eyeing a net interest margin of 2.8 per cent for current fiscal.