State Bank of Travancore was locked at 5% upper limit of the circuit-breaker on the BSE at Rs 631.25 today on the back of  impressive results.

A volume of 1,125 shares was recorded on the counter in afternoon trades. At the time of writing this article, the outstanding purchases position was at 9,530 shares. The stock has risen by 55.5% from Rs 406 on 1 April 2003.

On Wednesday, State Bank of Travancore announced its fourth quarter as well as full year results for the period ended 31 March 2003.

For Q4, the bank posted a 48% rise in net profit at Rs 70.64 crore (Rs 47.65 crore) on a 10.5% increase in total income at Rs 507.09 crore (Rs 458.93 crore). For FY 2002-03, the bank's net profit rose by 41.5% to Rs 171.04 crore (Rs 120.93 crore) on a 12% increase in total income to Rs 1,884.60 crore (Rs 1,684.08 crore).

Meanwhile, dealers said the rise in the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) scrip is mainly due to the 50% (Rs 50 per share, having a face value of Rs 100) dividend recommended by the bank's board for FY 2002-03. At the current price of Rs 631.25, the dividend yield works out to 7.92%.

SBT has 671 branches all over India. It was the first public sector bank in India to link its network through satellite in 1994. It was also the first public sector bank to provide automated teller machines (ATMs) in Kerala during the same year.

To give more thrust to the small scale industries (SSI) sector, SBT has decided to open SSI branches even outside its lead districts in Kerala. It has also set up business counselling centres to provide support to the existing SSI units in various aspects of their functioning, as also to provide guidance to entrepreneurs desirous of setting up new units.

SBT plays a pioneering role in financing the agriculture sector, like the seed, floriculture, tissue culture and aqua culture units.

As on 31 March 2003, Government of India held 76.05% equity stake in SBT, while public, local  and foreign institutions held 12.56%, 4.62% and 4.52% respectively.