State-run Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd posted a 40 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 664.09 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 474.07 crore in the same period last year, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income from operations rose to Rs 2,178.04 crore in the October-December quarter from Rs 1,706.18 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago, it added. Shares of REC closed at Rs 246.65 on the BSE, down 5.39 per cent from the previous close.