OREANDA-NEWS. October 24, 2008. Sberbank (RTS: SBER, MICEX: SBER03) has published its results on financial operations as at 9M 2008 in accordance with the Russian accounting standards (non-consolidated), reported the press-centre of Sberbank.

In 9M 2008, the total loan portfolio grew by RUR946.6bn (23.1%) to exceed RUR5 trillion. In September 2008, loans to legal entities grew by RUR53.8bn, more than in Aug and Jul 08. Loans to individuals as of 1 Oct 2008 stood at RUR 1.25 trillion, up 31.8% in 9M08 (vs 24.9% in 9M07).

Investments in securities during the 9 months fell by RUR23.0bn to RUR490.1bn. More than 65% of the portfolio constitutes sovereign securities used by the bank for liquidity management purposes. As of 9M08, the bank had positive financial results from operations with securities of RUR16.1bn; in Q308, the financial result (loss) on securities recorded in the P&L statement amounted to RUR0.3bn.

The Bank’s resource base went up due to increase in funds inflow from individuals and legal entities.

In 9M 2008, deposits from individuals grew by RUR346.6bn to exceed RUR3 trillion. In September, the increase was RUR15.6bn, in August - RUR41.6bn.

The slow-down in inflows of individual’s funds in September was offset by an increase in those of legal entities funds (+RUR108.8bn in September and +RUR52.2bn in August). In total, as of 9M08 legal entities’ funds (customer accounts) grew by RUR457.5bn to RUR1,785.3bn.

Profit before tax went up 31.1% vs 9M07 to RUR134.8bn. Growth in profit before tax was due to increased revenues from lending and commission fees. The bank’s net profit in 9M08 was RUR102.9bn – up 26.7% vs same prior year period. Cost/Income ratio improved by 1.1 percent points vs 2007 reaching 45.0%.

The bank’s equity went up 15.0% year-to-date due to net profit growth reaching RUR783.5bn.

Please note that herein, for compatibility purposes, 2008 growth data were calculated using the Bank’s internal methodology introduced on 1 January 2008 due to new accounting rules (See the Bank of Russia’s Regulation No.302-P). Equity growth rate was calculated from the bank’s equity figure as of 1 Jan 08 taking into account events after the reporting date.