VTB Group, a Russia-based banking group, has reported its unaudited IFRS results for the six months ending 30 June 2009.
The highlights of the results include: total gross loans up 3% to RUR2.7 trillion as at 30 June 2009 – corporate loans up by 2.3%, retail loans up by 6.7%; customer deposits up 41.7% to RUR1.6 trillion as at 30 June 2009 – both corporate and retail deposits up; core income up 36.8% y-o-y to RUR80 billion; net fee and commission income up 29.3% y-o-y to RUR9.7 billion, up 25.6% q-o-q to RUR5.4 billion in 2Q’09; net interest margin at 4.2% in 1H’09 from 4.8% in 1H’08; 2Q’09 margin up to 4.3% from 4.1% in 1Q’09; net loss of RUR31.5 billion in 1H’09 due to high loan loss provisions of RUR96.6 billion, although loss was down in 2Q’09 to RUR11 billion from RUR20.5 billion in 1Q’09; allowance for loan impairment up to 6.9% of total gross loan portfolio at the end of 1H’09 from 3.6% at the end of 2008; on track to meet cost target: cost-to-core income ratio improved to 44.6% in 1H’09 from 50.8% in 1H’08; and total BIS ratio at 16%.
Andrei Kostin, president and chairman of the management board, VTB, said: “Against a difficult economic backdrop, we continue to manage the business with a focus on costs and risk. In the second half of the year, we expect to see signs of improvement and the benefits of a reinforced capital base and, while there is still some uncertainty, we believe we have now passed the lowest point of the economic cycle.”
