Bank of Baroda Q4 profit up 20%

Steady performance coupled by one time stake sale has driven lender’s net profit up at $204mln.

Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) posted a 20.4 percent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of a steady performance of its core operations. A one-time gain of Rs 81.45 crore ($18.31 million) through sale of its stake in UTI AMC and UTI Trustee also helped the bank to increase its profit to Rs 906.28 crore ($203.77 million) from Rs 752.69 crore ($169.24 million) in the year-ago period.

Net interest income grew 19 percent to Rs 1,745 crore ($392.35 million), while income from treasury operations came down to Rs 206 crore ($46.32 million) from Rs 301 crore ($67.68 million) during the period under review. The state-run bank, which has not seen mark-to-market losses in its bond portfolio despite hardening yields, expects no such losses going ahead.

“The modified duration of our available-for-sale portfolio was 2.18 years as on March 31. Even if yields harden to 8.5 percent, we will be able to absorb that, so no provisions are required for mark-to-market losses,” said Chairman and Managing Director MD Mallya. The bank also benefited from a write-back in provisions of Rs 200 crore ($44.97 million) during the year.

View the full story in Business Standard.