Bank of Baroda hogged the limelight today and even was subject to huge volumes.

The scrip of the public sector bank leaped up 9% to Rs 124.80 on BSE. It gained as much as 11.1% to a peak of Rs 127.15, a 52-week high on the counter. Huge volumes of 24.4 lakh shares were registered on the counter in just a couple of hours of trading on BSE. Average daily volumes in the stock in the last one year (to 9 May 2003) stood at 2.9 lakh shares.

The stock has witnessed a sustained rise on the bourses since November 2002 as part of the broad based rally across public sector banks. From Rs 44.85 on 31 October 2002, the stock has surged 178% in less than seven months to the current Rs 124.80. The rally in the stock has materialised amid intermittent corrections.

The stock has also witnessed a sharp surge this month. From Rs 80.90 on 29 April 2003, the stock has surged 54% in less than a month to the current Rs 124.80. The latest rally on the counter comes amid expectations that Bank of Baroda (BoB) is likely to announce strong Q4 and FY 2003 results. BoB will announce its Q4 and FY 2003 results on 27 May 2003.

Even otherwise, BoB is one of the most undervalued stocks among banking PSUs according to banking analysts. The stock currently trades below its projected FY 2003-04 adjusted book value of Rs 140 per share.

Bank of Baroda is  the fourth-largest bank in terms of asset size. The bank's branch network is concentrated in the western region with a significant presence in the northern region as well. Its presence in the south and east is limited. The western region accounts for 65% of its total business.

Bank of Baroda's provisioning cover has grown impressively from 54% in FY 1999 to 70% in the nine  months to FY 2003 and its net non-performing loans (NPLs)  have fallen from 7.6% to 4% during the same period.

Bank of Baroda is one of the few banks that is making a serious attempt to revamp its business model. Its technology plan is more detailed than other similar-sized banks. The bank has redefined its business lines to make technology implementation more effective. To strengthen its brand name and broad base its management team, the
bank is planning to hire six general managers at market-related salaries (seven times the salary of the chairman). The six new GMs will be for marketing, project management, group risk management, e-business strategy, IT and chief economist.

BoB has been focussing on the retail loans segment which has driven its strong growth in the current year.

During the nine month period ended 31 December 2002, the bank's global advances rose 16% to Rs 34,449 crore on y-o-y basis. Similarly, global deposits rose 12% to Rs 66,820 crore .

When compared to March 2002, the same grew by 8%.

For the nine month period, BoB's interest income rose 4% to Rs 4,583.56 crore. During the period under review, its net profit after making adjustment for income tax refund rose 45% to Rs 569.64 crore.

Bank of Baroda (BOB) is 66.2% owned by Government of India.