Bank of Baroda declares 50 pc dividend

Vadodara, July 7 (UNI) The Bank of Baroda (BOB) today declared a dividend of 50 per cent to its shareholders for the year 2005-06.

This was announced at the 10th AGM of the bank's shareholders held at the C C Mehta auditorium here.

Talking to mediapersons after the AGM, BOB chairman-cum- Managing Director Dr Anil Khandelwal said the year 2005-06 was a momentous year for the bank which had registered an all-round business growth and set in motion several customer-centric and technology initiatives.

Referring to the bank's vision-2010, Dr Khandelwal said BOB which increased its total business from Rs 124,734 crore to Rs 153,574 crore registering a growth of 23.12 per cent last year, had planned to double its business size in the next 3-4 years.

Claiming that BOB had remained scam-free and never incurred losses during the last 99 years of its existence, the chairman said the bank was now keen to launch its own insurance company and was looking for a suitable partner to go ahead with its plan.

Dr Khandelwal said BOB had chalked out a 10-point programme for Gujarat to further tap the growing business opportunities in the state which contributed 23 per cent of the total business of the bank.

Describing Gujarat as the most vibrant state, he said the BOB would like to be the prime partner for rural development of Gujarat as well as the primary banker to the state government by 2007-08. Apart from opening a General Manager's office in Ahmedabad, to faciliate implementation of the 10-point programme, the chairman said his bank was fully committed to improve its Credit-Deposit Ratio in Gujarat which stood at 40 per cent.

The bank had also set up a high-level committee to celebrate its centenary year in 2007 and pay tribute to its founder Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda. On this occasion, a special package was expected to be announced for Baroda, the birth place of the bank, the CMD of BOB said.

UNI SS MAZ AG2033