OREANDA-NEWS. September 03, 2014. Sviaz-Bank has made public its consolidated financial statements for six months of 2014 prepared in accordance with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and verified by Ernst & Young LLC, the Bank’s independent auditor.

As reported in the Bank’s IAS financial statements, its assets had gone up to 335.6 billion rubles by July 1, 2014, or 21.1% more than they were on the same reporting date last year.

The growth of the Bank’s assets was driven by its swelling loan portfolio that had climbed up by 12.5% to 207.4 billion rubles over the early half of 2014. Commercial lending, before adjustment for reserves, rose by 11.7% to 159.3 billion rubles. Over six months of this year, the Bank made loans to IDGC (Interregional Distribution Grid Company) Center and Volga (OJSC), Rostelecom OJSC, Siberia Air Company (OJSC), Kristall PA (Production Association) OJSC, Altaivagon OJSC, Confectioners United LLC, Genser Service LLC, Salavatsteklo OJSC, and Ussuri Balm OJSC.

Since the start of 2014, the amount of the Bank’s loans to individuals, before adjustment for reserves, had increased by 16.4% to 57.7 billion rubles. The Bank keeps on developing its mortgage program, particularly mortgages to servicemen that had been growing at a fast rate and risen by 23.0% to 25.9 billion rubles over six months of 2014. The socially targeted mortgage programs for the purchase of apartments in Moscow and Moscow suburbs at an interest rate of 9.5% up had been expanding as well.

Considering the slowdown of economic growth in the country in the early half of 2014, with an adverse effect on the quality of Sviaz-Bank’s loan portfolio, the Bank had maintained the cost of risk to its aggregate loan portfolio within the comfortable 4.4% limits.

Regardless market volatility, the Bank holds on to its strong positions in liquidity and funding. The IAS funds put by legal entities and individuals into deposits at the Bank in 2014 topped 223.4 billion rubles on the reporting date, an increase of 37.9% on what they were on the same date of 2013.

The Bank of Russia added Sviaz-Bank to its list of banks that have been authorized to keep pension savings and savings placed, in particular, on deposit with the Bank by servicemen for purchasing housing.

Sviaz-Bank continued expanding operations of its BLIZKO Payment System across Russia, in CIS countries, neighboring countries, and in other countries. The Bank joined efforts with the Post of Russia in a Forsage project to provide money transfer services in CIS countries. Money can now be transferred from over 25,000 offices of the Post of Russia in all cities and large communities. Transfer services are provided by the Post of Russia in partnership with Sviaz-Bank’s BLIZKO Payment System, its offices in CIS countries transferring and paying money sent within the framework of the Forsage project.

Over six months of 2014, the Bank had been showing positive growth in its net interest income that reached 5,378 million rubles, or an increase of 32.9% on its performance in the early half of 2013, in spite of a significant increase in the key interest rate charged by the country’s Central Bank and, as a result, growth in interest rates on the interbank market, deposit interest rates, and direct REPO interest rates with the Central Bank. Sviaz-Bank earned 352 million rubles in net commissions over six months of 2014. The other income items varied insignificantly relative to the comparative figures.

By following its policy of cutting administrative costs and keeping them within the inflation growth range, the Bank registered decline in CIR to 57.9% over six month of 2014, down from 72.5% in CIR it showed the year before.

The Bank made a profit of 491 million rubles in the early half of 2014, down from 656 million rubles it earned over the same period of 2013. Its profit declined because, among other causes, it admitted the loss of 246 million rubles caused through devaluation of several packages of investment securities it had held for sale on a falling market.

As of July 1, 2014 the Bank had 44.9 billion rubles in IAS equity capital, a surety of its sustainable development in the future.

Today, the Bank is doing business as usual in the retail, corporate, and investment sectors, exercises control over its expenses to enhance its efficiency, and follows in the guidelines laid for its current business strategy.