AFP, Moscow :
Russia’s second largest bank VTB said Thursday it had doubled its net profits in 2015 boosted by increased lending in the fourth quarter which compensated for earlier losses. The majority state-owned bank, which has been targeted by European Union and United States sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, announced net profits of 1.7 billion rubles ($25 million, 22 million euros at the current exchange rates) for 2015, up 112 percent on 2014.
Analysts had told Interfax news agency that they expected much lower profits of around 200 million rubles.
The result came after better-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter of 12.6 billion rubles, following a loss in the fourth quarter of 2014. VTB had made a loss of 18.3 billion rubles in the first quarter of 2015 after its net profits in 2014 fell by 99.2 percent.
VTB chief Andrei Kostin in a statement said the bank’s “resilient and flexible business model” helped it during a “challenging year for the Russian economy and the banking sector,” with economic recession, a falling ruble and a hiked interest rate.
He attributed the return to profits to “robust growth of non-interest income” as well as “stringent cost control” and “further recovery in demand for financing from our corporate clients.”
Over 2015, the bank’s net interest income fell 16.8 percent year-on-year to 289.1 billion rubles, but grew 10.4 percent year on year in the fourth quarter to 93.1 billion rubles.
Its net fee and commission income surged 20.8 percent year-on-year to 76.2 billion rubles.
On Wednesday Kostin told the Interfax news agency that VTB expected its net profits in 2016 to reach 50 billion rubles under an “optimistic” scenario. He said that a negative scenario could see profits stay close to zero. Russia’s largest lender Sberbank on Tuesday said that it saw its net profits fall 23 percent in 2015 due to the economic crisis, although it saw an improvement at the end of the year.
Russia’s second largest bank VTB said Thursday it had doubled its net profits in 2015 boosted by increased lending in the fourth quarter which compensated for earlier losses. The majority state-owned bank, which has been targeted by European Union and United States sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, announced net profits of 1.7 billion rubles ($25 million, 22 million euros at the current exchange rates) for 2015, up 112 percent on 2014.
Analysts had told Interfax news agency that they expected much lower profits of around 200 million rubles.
The result came after better-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter of 12.6 billion rubles, following a loss in the fourth quarter of 2014. VTB had made a loss of 18.3 billion rubles in the first quarter of 2015 after its net profits in 2014 fell by 99.2 percent.
VTB chief Andrei Kostin in a statement said the bank’s “resilient and flexible business model” helped it during a “challenging year for the Russian economy and the banking sector,” with economic recession, a falling ruble and a hiked interest rate.
He attributed the return to profits to “robust growth of non-interest income” as well as “stringent cost control” and “further recovery in demand for financing from our corporate clients.”
Over 2015, the bank’s net interest income fell 16.8 percent year-on-year to 289.1 billion rubles, but grew 10.4 percent year on year in the fourth quarter to 93.1 billion rubles.
Its net fee and commission income surged 20.8 percent year-on-year to 76.2 billion rubles.
On Wednesday Kostin told the Interfax news agency that VTB expected its net profits in 2016 to reach 50 billion rubles under an “optimistic” scenario. He said that a negative scenario could see profits stay close to zero. Russia’s largest lender Sberbank on Tuesday said that it saw its net profits fall 23 percent in 2015 due to the economic crisis, although it saw an improvement at the end of the year.
