Mumbai, Feb 5 (IANS): State-owned lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) bounced backed in the black for the first time in the last three quarters with a net profit of Rs 247 crore for the third quarter ending December 2018.

According to the state-run lender, net profit during the quarter under review rose by 7.1 per cent to Rs 247 crore over the Rs 230 crore profit after tax (PAT) reported for the corresponding quarter of 2017-18.

The bank, hit badly by a multi-million dollar scam last year, posted a net loss of Rs 4,532 crore during the July-September quarter of the current fiscal.

For the October-December quarter in consideration, the bank reported a decline in provisioning requirements as it was able to reduce its gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) during the period.

"GNPA (gross non-performing assets) declined by Rs 8,887 crore over March 2018 to reach at Rs 77,733 crore in December 2018," the lender said in a statement.

"NNPA (Net NPA) declined by Rs 13,009 crore over March 2018 to reach Rs 35,675 crore in December '18. Overall stressed assets reduced by 265 bps (basis points) over March 2018," the statement read.

The lender's provisions during the quarter under review declined by 28.9 per cent to Rs 2,853 crore, compared to Rs 4,015 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

Similarly, the provisions towards NPAs also declined. These fell by 14.4 per cent in the quarter under review to Rs 2,566 crore, from Rs 2,996 crore reported during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

PNBs's net interest income in the third quarter grew by 7.6 per cent to Rs 4,290 crore, compared to Rs 3,989 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.