PNB reports Rs 5,367 crore fourth quarter loss as bad loans surge

 Punjab National Bank reported a fourth-quarter net loss of Rs 5367 crore ($802 million) as the nation`s fourth-biggest state-run lender by assets set aside more funds to cover a jump in bad loans.

Provisions, including for loan losses, nearly tripled from a year earlier to 104.85 billion rupees in the March quarter, the New Delhi-based lender said in a regulatory filing.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 12.9 percent in March from 8.47 percent in December, and 6.55 percent a year earlier.

Indian banks have seen a surge in bad loans after a clean up ordered by their regulator, the Reserve Bank of India. The central bank wanted banks to classify some troubled accounts as non-performing and make adequate provisions for those over the December and March quarters.