MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s largest lender Sberbank on Wednesday announced a 2.7 percent year-on-year increase in net profit for January-September 2012, to 262.8 billion rubles ($8.5 billion) under IFRS.
The figure was above the consensus forecast of analysts polled by RIA Novosti who expected Sberbank’s net financial result to rise 1 percent to 258.8 billion rubles.
“Net profit for the 9 months ended 30 September 2012 reached 262.8 bn rubles (or 12.13 rubles per ordinary share), showing a 2.7 percent increase on 255.8 bn rubles (or 11.81 rubles per ordinary share) for the same period of 2011,” Sberbank said in a statement.
The net profit increase was “driven by the growth of principal business lines and supported by income from operations on the financial markets.”
Sberbank’s operating income before provision for loan impairment increased by 23 percent to 665.6 billion rubles, mainly due to “growth of net interest income and net fee and commission income.”
The return on equity stood at 25.1 percent in the nine months of this year compared with 31.5 percent in the same period last year.
Sberbank’s total assets grew by 27 percent in the reporting period, including an 11.9 percent increase attributable to the acquisition of Turkey’s DenizBank and Sberbank Europe AG (formerly Volksbank International AG).