Legacy issues behind us, PNB on track to outperform competition: MD Goel

With legacy issues behind, Punjab National Bank (PNB) is on the right path to outpace the competition and achieve greater heights in terms of profitability during the current fiscal and subsequent years, the bank's managing director Atul Kumar Goel said. PNB topped the chart recording the highest profit growth of 229 per cent among the 12 public sector banks during the fiscal ended in March 2024. The bank's net profit increased over three-fold to Rs 8,245 crore compared to Rs 2,507 crore in the previous fiscal.Recalling the position of PNB three years ago, Goel said it was a laggard on many counts with one of the highest gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) numbers among PSBs and Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) was low."Today you see my net NPA reduced to 0.7 per cent and even the PCR is more than 95 per cent. I am better than my peers," he told PTI in an interview. Going forward, he said, the net NPA would come down below 0.5 per cent and the net interest margin of around 3 per cent during the current financial year. "We are on the right path because we have taken a lot of initiatives like improving underwriting, collections, digital and HR transformation.