Bank of Baroda dons a new look, logo

Ace Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid is set to become the brand ambassador for a new avtaar of the Bank of Baroda.

Even as the bank expands its presence-both nationally and in the overseas markets, on Monday it will shed its original logo of a hand and a wheel of industry and agriculture within a circle and adopt a new logo -- the Baroda Sun.

The traditional blue letters of Bank of Baroda on a yellow background is to be replaced by a more vibrant orange colour. The new logo, with two 'B' letters overlapping each other spring out from the rays of sun at the lower left corner and the logo will have a halo effect representing the sun.

Since its inception in 1908 in Gujarat, the bank has the logo of an industrial and agriculture wheel with Sanskrit letters -- 'Akshayam te Bhavishyati' (the future is secure). A hand overlapping a wheel was also part of the original logo.

Now, on the threshold of adopting new international standards, BoB clearly intends to project itself as a modern and technologically savvy bank. The new logo and the signing of Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador is also a clear indication that the bank is trying to address the needs of the younger generation.

Bank of Baroda posted a 35 per cent dip in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005, to Rs 101.04 crore (Rs 1.01 billion), down from Rs 156.02 crore (Rs 1.56 billion) in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

For the full year ended March 31, 2005, the bank posted a 30 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 676.84 crore (Rs 6.77 billion) compared with Rs 967 crore (Rs 9.67 billion) for the previous fiscal. The operating profit for the year was down at Rs 2,301 crore {Rs 23.01 billion (Rs 2,485.30 crore or Rs 24.85 billion)}.

The bank ended FY05 with a capital adequacy ratio of 12.61 per cent and a net NPA as a percentage of net advances decreased to 1.45 per cent.

During the year, total deposits of the bank grew by 11.47 per cent to Rs 81,333 crore (Rs 813.33 billion) as against Rs 72,967 crore (Rs 729.67 billion) for the previous year. Total advances also grew by 22 per cent to Rs 43,400 crore (Rs 434 billion) as against Rs 35,601 crore (Rs 356.01 billion) for the previous year.