Stocks of Bank of Baroda surged nearly 17 per cent after the company reported an improvement in asset quality for the quarter ended March 31, although its net profit slumped.
The stock rose sharply by 16.88 per cent to settle at Rs 169.65 on the BSE. Intra-day, it jumped 18.42 per cent to Rs 171.90.
On the NSE, it ended at Rs 169.70, up 16.95 per cent from its previous close.
Following the sharp rally, the company's market valuation zoomed Rs 5,419.03 crore to Rs 37,518.03 crore.
In terms of volume, 69.52 lakh shares of the company changed hands at the BSE and over 4 crore shares were traded at the NSE during the day.
"Bank of Baroda surged on the back of significant improvement in asset quality. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 3.72 per cent in Q4 against 3.85 per cent in the previous quarter," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
State-run Bank of Baroda's standalone net profit declined by 48 per cent to Rs 598.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31.
It had posted net profit of Rs 1,157.27 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal, 2013-14, the bank said in a BSE filing today.
Total standalone income rose by 4 per cent to Rs 12,057.39 crore in January-March of 2014-15 from Rs 11,614.85 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, it added.
For the entire 2014-15 fiscal, BOB's standalone net profit fell by 25 per cent to Rs 3,398.43 crore, from Rs 4,541.08 crore a year ago. Total income was up by 9 per cent to Rs 47,365.55 crore as against Rs 43,402.43.
On consolidated basis, the net profit showed 22 per cent fall at Rs 3,911.73 crore, from Rs 5,000.73 crore in 2013-14. fiscal.
Gross non-performing assets (NPA) stood at 3.72 per cent, higher than 2.94 per cent reported in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, in the broader market the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 27,507.30, up 401.91 points.
