Sberbank reports increasing profits

Sberbank has released its financial results for the first 10 months of 2009 so far.
The Russian banking institution saw pre-provisions operating income surge by 27.3% compared to the same period in 2008, with net interest income up 38.4% and net fee and commission income rising by 7.7%.
In addition the firm managed to slice 2.2% from its operating expenses, on a like-for-like comparison.
However, the provisions increased to more than four times those required last year, leading to pre-tax profits of RUB22.1bn, a significant decline from the RUB143.7bn recorded in 2008.
Similarly, net profits fell from RUB113bn to RUB17.1bn this year.
The hugely increased provisions required continue to hamper Sberbank’s net profit margin, however, in recent months this has continually increased.
For the first 10 months of the year net profit was almost double that recorded for the first nine months, a sign of the ongoing improvement the bank is making in its profitability.