Rana Kapoor in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI)

April 20: Private sector lender Yes Bank’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended March rose 45 per cent to Rs 203.4 crore from Rs 140 crore in the same period last year.

Net profit for 2010-11 grew 52.2 per cent to Rs 727 crore from Rs 477.7 crore a year ago.

The bank said its board had approved a plan to sell shares to raise $500 million. The share sale this fiscal will be either through an institutional placement or a global depository receipts issue.

Managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor attributed the performance to a robust growth in advances and net interest margins. Advances grew 54.8 per cent to Rs 34,363.60 crore and deposits rose 71.4 per cent to Rs 45,938.90 crore in the quarter.

Kapoor said this was the first time since the bank was incorporated six years ago that it had crossed the Rs 200-crore mark in quarterly profits. It has also become the country’s fourth largest private bank. The board has announced a dividend of Rs 2.50 per share.

Despite the high pressure on interest rates, the bank was able to pass on 90 per cent of the interest load to the borrowers. This enabled the bank to maintain its net interest margin at 2.8 per cent.