New Delhi, Jan 25 : Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday announced an over three-fold jump in its profit to Rs 2,223 crore for the October-December quarter of the current financial year, compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 629 crore in the same period last year. The government-owned bank's total income shot up to Rs 29,962 crore during the quarter from Rs 25,722 crore in the same period last year. PNB's net interest income (NII) went up 12.1 per cent to Rs 10,293 crore from Rs 9,179.4 crore in the year ago period, according to a regulatory filing. The bank's asset quality also improved during the quarter with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declining to 6.24 per cent of total loans from 9.76 per cent in the same period last year. Net NPAs came down to 0.96 per cent from 3.30 per cent. The provisions for bad loans made by the bank came down to Rs 2,739.1 crore from Rs 4,713.34 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. /IANS