PNB finds ₹11,300 cr fraud transactions, shares plunge 10%
NEW DELHI: OTHER PSU BANKS WERE UNDER PRESSURE TOO AND THEIR SHARES
FELL BY UP TO 8%
AFTER THE RBI CAME OUT WITH NEW NORMS FOR RECOGNISING STRESSED ASSETS
Shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB) plunged 10% on Wednesday after the state-run bank detected financial fraud of over ₹11,300 crore in one of its branches in Mumbai.
Other PSU banks were under pressure too and fell by up to 8% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with new norms for recognising stressed assets.
The stock of PNB settled at ₹145.20 on the NSE, a slump of 10.29% from its previous close. During intra-day trade, the scrip had touched a low of ₹145.15.
Similar movement was witnessed on the BSE, as the scrip closed 9.81% lower at ₹145.80. It had opened at ₹160 and soon touched an intra-day low of ₹144.70.
Following the decline in the counter, the market capitalisation of the company eroded by ₹3,844 crore to ₹35,365 crore.
In a regulatory filing to stock exchanges on Wednesday, PNB said it has detected some fraudulent transactions with financial implication of $1.77 billion (about ₹11,335 crore), and the matter has been referred to law enforcement agencies for recovery. The bank has detected some fraudulent and unauthorised transactions (messages) in one of its branches in Mumbai for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance, PNB said.
Based on these transactions, other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad, it said.
Among other banking counters, State Bank of India (SBI) declined 4.06% to end at ₹276.80.
Bank of India lost 7.87%, followed by Allahabad Bank (7.79%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (7.43%), Canara Bank (5.82%), Syndicate Bank (4.49%), IDBI Bank (4.22%) and Bank of Baroda (1.75%).
“The PSU banking space was the party spoiler today as we saw massive cut in individual names within this basket. Going ahead, one needs to keep a close eye on this basket as follow-through selling may result in further dampness in the market,” said Sameet Chavan, chief analysttechnical and derivatives at Angel Broking.