Mumbai, May 20 (PTI): Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) has announced a net profit of Rs 276.44 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008, a 12.53 per cent growth rate over the corresponding period a year ago.

The bank’s net profit stood at Rs 245.66 crore in the fourth quarter of 2007 fiscal, BoB said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The board has declared a dividend of 80 per cent, at the rate of Rs 8, on shares of face value of Rs 10 each, for the 2007-08 fiscal.

For the year ended March 31, BoB has posted a net profit of Rs 1,435.52 crore, a 39.85 per cent growth rate over the year-ago period. The bank said it had provided Rs 80 crore in 2008 fiscal to cover credit-linked notes related transactions and investments in corporate bonds overseas.

“The bank’s total credit-linked notes related exposure is Rs 1,276 crore and we have made a provisioning of nearly Rs 50 crore to cover the transactions, while about Rs 30 crore has been provided for investments in corporate bonds overseas,” bank chairman and managing director M. D. Mallya said.