OREANDA-NEWS. OJSC "URALSIB" (hereinafter - the Bank) (RTS: USBN) announces its 2012 IFRS results.

The Bank’s total income for 2012 increased by 12% compared to 2011. The Bank demonstrated growth in all categories of income: interest, fee and commission, and other operating income. Both net interest income (inclusive of impairment of interest-earning assets) and net fee and commission income are also on a positive trend compared to 2011. The income growth was mainly driven by the retail loan portfolio which increased by 31% from 81.5 to 106.3 bln. rubles. At the same time the related loss allowance decreased by 12% from 6.7 to 5.9 bln. rubles. The dynamics of operating expenses were consistent with the level of inflation in Russia.

Commenting on the results of operations, Ilkka Salonen, Chairman of the Bank’s Management Board noted that "2012 was not an easy year for Uralsib Bank. We continued to work on problems which we inherited from the 2008 crisis. At the same time we already see the positive effects of the programs that were launched in 2011 and aimed at the improvement of the Bank’s operational efficiency. The centralization of key supporting functions, consolidation of the Bank's branches and implementation of LEAN-based process improvements - have all created new opportunities for raising the quality of customer service. In 2013 we continue to extend our efforts to further improve the efficiency of the Bank.

This year we continue to experience strong growth in the retail segment. In the corporate segment we focus on small and medium-sized businesses in the regions that have traditionally been the backbone of URALSIB. In 2012 URALSIB was ranked third bank in Russia by volume of loans to small and medium enterprises".

In 2012 the Bank continued to implement activities aimed at improving asset quality which resulted in a significant reduction of impairment losses from 7.0 bln. rubles in 2011 to 4.3 bln. rubles in 2012.

The Bank’s consolidated financial result for 2012 includes a 2.6 bln. rubles loss of the Leasing Group (after exclusion of minority interests) resulting from a conservative valuation of non-core assets planned for disposal in 2013. On a stand-alone basis the Bank reduced its annual loss by 33% from 2.1 bln. rubles in 2011 to 1.4 bln. rubles in 2012.

As of 31.12.2012 the Bank’s total capital adequacy ratio (calculated in accordance with the Basel Capital Accord) remained strong at 13.6% compared to the required minimum of 8.0%.