OREANDA-NEWS. In 1H2014, Bank Petrocommerce generated net profit of RUB 2.2 bln (according to the RAS).

The Bank's interest income increased by 23% to RUB 10.3 bln yoy, which was driven, first and foremost, by the growth of interest income from lending by 16% to RUB 8.7 bln. Interest income from factoring went up by 37% to RUB 1.0 bln; from SME lending - by 223% to RUB 0.8 bln; from retail lending - by 36% to RUB 2.1 bln. Net interest income augmented by 38% to RUB 3.6 bln due to a moderate interest expense growth.

Net fee & commission income also demonstrated an upward trend growing by 2% to RUB 0.8 bln. The measures aimed at boosting business efficiency undertaken by the Bank allowed to cut administrative and other operating expenses by 11% to RUB 3.4 bln yoy. In 1H2014, net assets grew by 8% to RUB 256.0 bln. Along with the increasing investment into liquidity instruments (securities), lending was one of the main drivers behind the asset growth. The SME loan portfolio increased by almost 30% to RUB 12.6 bln, with the market average growth being around 4%. The corporate loan book expanded by 5% to RUB 122.8 bln, as at 01 July 2014. The Bank's retail loan portfolio increased to RUB 28.8 bln.

In 1H2014, the Bank outpaced the retail lending market by over 8 p.p. (15.2% versus 6.9%, respectively). Mortgage lending, credit cards, consumer lending continue to show high growth rates - up by 30%, 16% and 10%, respectively. A high level of underwriting, growth focused on the key client segment and monitoring of the current market situation allowed the Bank to reduce the share of overdue loans to 8.3% in the first six months of 2014, with the provisioning being 10.7%.

The Bank's loyal customer base is one of its competitive edges.

As at 01.07.2014, corporate customer funding amounted to RUB 79.3 bln, up by 24% as compared with the year-start. Retail customer funding was RUB 71.0 bln, down by 5%, which is in line with the market trend. As at 01.07.2014, all ratios were well above the regulatory floor level: capital adequacy (N1.0) was 12.5% (min. 10%), short-term liquidity (N2) - 67.9% (min. 15%), current liquidity - 83.9% (min. 50%), long-term liquidity - 82.2% (max. 120%).

"Bank Petrocommerce continues to focus on boosting its capitalisation and business efficiency by cutting costs and enhancing stronghold in the core segments generating high margins", said Elena Korekhova, the Bank's CFO.