11 Nov 2009 16:11

Sberbank expects major improvement in financial results in 2010

MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) - Sberbank expects a "very serious" improvement in its financial results in 2010 compared with 2009, the bank's senior vice president, Denis Bugrov, told reporters.

The net profit in 2010 will be substantially higher than the 20 billion rubles for 2009, Bugrov said. The bank expects a record profit for the full-year 2010 before deductions for reserves.

Sberbank's financial result for the first nine months of 2009 - 445 billion rubles - was 33% higher than in the same period of 2008 before provisioning, he said.

Sberbank expects to begin releasing reserves after the first half of 2010. The reserves are expected to peak at 12%-14% of the loan portfolio in mid-2010, he added.

RTS$#&: SBER