Rise in interest income and growth in overseas operations saw Bank of Baroda’s net profit for the quarter rise 63% to Rs 329.1 crore, up from Rs 202.2 crore, posted a year ago.

BoB’s net profit for the nine months ended December ’06 was up 26.3% to Rs 780.8 crore against Rs 618.2 crore last year.

The bank’s overseas operations contributed up to 35% of the bank’s total net profit, while their contribution to the bank’s total business stood at 18%.

The bank has received the RBI approval to open offices in six more countries, including Canada, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana, Qatar and Bahrain. The bank plans to raise up to $150 million worth of Tier-II capital through a medium-term note programme, said the bank’s chairman, AK Khandelwal. While interest income rose 34.6% to Rs 2,387 crore, other income rose by only 21.6% to Rs 333.7 crore.

While domestic deposits grew by 23.5% to Rs 40,421 crore for the nine-months ended December 2006 total advances grew 46.8% to Rs 77,661 crore for the period ended December 2006. Following a 49.2% growth on a year-on-year basis to Rs 12,240 crore retail advances now constitute 19.3% of the bank’s total domestic credit.

Gross non-performing assets have dipped by 24% to Rs 2,388 crore from Rs 3,151 crore as on December 31, 2005. Net NPAs have consequently fallen from 1.1% as at end-December 2005 to 0.67% as on end-December 2006.