Ukhtabank boosts FY08 IFRS net profit by 92.7%

PRIME-TASS. Net profit earned by Ukhtabank, based in the Republic of Komi, drafted to IFRS skyrocketed 92.7% y-o-y from Rub 194.3 mln to Rub 374.4 mln in 2008, the lending institution’s press service reported Tuesday. During the year the lender’s assets grew 5.8% and equaled Rub 7.05 bln as of January 1, 2009, while equity capital jumped by 30.5% from Rub 1.07 bln to Rub 1.40 bln.

The bank’s credit portfolio (exclusive of reserves) declined 14.4% from Rub 3.78 bln to Rub 3.23 bln. The lender’s obligations rose 1.1% from Rub 5.59 bln to Rub 5.65 bln and the portion of clients’ funds in the obligations grew 2.5% from Rub 5.39 bln to Rub 5.52 bln.

Cash and cash equivalents soared 2.7 times to Rub 2.48 bln, reaching 35.2% of the bank’s assets. The securities portfolio, on the contrary, sank 3.5-fold from Rub 1.54 bln to Rub 444.8 mln.

As the bank pointed out in a press release, the quality of the credit portfolio deteriorated under the influence of the overall economic environment. This primarily concerns loans granted to legal entities. In this connection reserves under devaluation of the credit portfolio were bumped up substantially. During the year reserves accumulated under loans climbed from Rub 105.3 mln to Rub 200.2 mln, leaping 90.1% y-o-y.

Ukhtabank, established in 1991, is one of the largest privately owned banks in the Republic of Komi. The lender’s network is comprised of 19 branches, including 18 of them located in the republic and a branch in Moscow, and 71 ATMs. Ukhtabank is a subsidiary bank of Petrocommerce.