NOMOS-BANK’s net profit in H1 2008 is up by 94.4% reaching 2.8 milliard Roubles

NOMOS-BANK’s net profit for the first half of 2008 in accordance with IFRS soared by 94.4% in comparison with the same period of the previous year, reaching 2.8 milliard Roubles (compared to 1.44 milliard Roubles as of 30 June 2007). The Bank’s assets for the six months of the current year rose by 17.2% — to 233.2 milliard Roubles.

Lending, which grew by 29% to 170.5 milliard Roubles, was the key driver of the increase in the structure of assets. Both corporate and retail lending showed a significant increase. Corporate credit portfolio grew by 26.7% — to 156.2 milliard Roubles, and loans to individuals rose by 60.5% to 14.2 milliard Roubles as of 30 June. Effective use of market conditions and improvements in the product line for corporate customers, including for small and medium enterprises, were the key factors that facilitated the upward dynamics of this indicator.

Net interest margin, which stood at 3 milliard Roubles as of 30 June 2007, increased by 88.2% to 5.61 milliard Roubles, fees and commission income rose by 30.4% — to 0.7 milliard Roubles (compared to 0.5 milliard Roubles as of 30 June 2007).

NOMOS-BANK’s own capital increased by 30.2% to 33.9 milliard Roubles. Capital growth was primarily due to the placement of the Bank’s additional issue of shares in June 2008 totalling 4.7 milliard Roubles.

NOMOS-BANK increased its SME credit portfolio in H1 2008 by 85% — to 3.7 milliard Roubles. Better product terms, a range of newly launched services, and more liberal lending criteria facilitated such dynamic growth. Trade and services enterprises, as well as manufacturing companies are among the principal consumers of the Bank’s credit products.

Client deposits portfolio increased by 11.1% reaching 94.7 milliard Roubles (compared to 85.2 milliard Roubles as of 31 December 2007). These figures include retail clients’ deposits, which increased to 29.5 milliard Roubles (by 8.5%) during the first six months of 2008. The upsurge in the individual clients’ deposits was primarily due to an upgrade of the deposit line in spring 2008. NOMOS-BANK’s deposit line comprises all existing types of deposits — classic, replenishable, and withdrawable/replenishable. The dynamics of NOMOS-BANK’s retail credit portfolio in the first half of 2008 was in line with the overall market figures.

In the first half of 2008, NOMOS-BANK fully switched to the issuance of combined plastic cards equipped with a microchip in addition to the magnetic stripe. The total number of cards issued by the Bank reached 214 thousand at the end of H1 2008, which constitutes an increase of more than 12.4% in comparison with the beginning of the year. The Bank also started offering cards of international payment systems Visa and MasterCard. In comparison with the beginning of the year, the number of ATMs rose by 17.6% — to 461 (of which 28 — with cash-in function), POS-terminals — to 532 (by 13.9%).

As of 30 June 2008, NOMOS-BANK’s client base included 43.8 thousand retail and 27.4 thousand corporate clients.

Over the first six months of the current year, NOMOS-BANK participated as arranger and underwriter in 13 bond loan issues totalling 61.8 milliard Roubles. The Bank acted as arranger with respect to four of such issues totalling 17 milliard Roubles, which helped it to move up from 12^th (as of 1 January 2008) to 8^th place in the overall rating of internal market arrangers, and from place 9 to 7 in the rating of corporate sector arrangers.

In September 2008, NOMOS-BANK redeemed the second tranche of a two-tranche syndicated facility totalling 93.25 million Dollars. Thus, the Bank fulfilled timely and fully its obligations under a syndicated loan obtained in March 2007. Tranche one in the amount of 91.75 million Dollars was redeemed according to schedule in March 2008.

Expansion of regional presence was a major factor that ensured the dynamic increase in the Bank’s key performance indicators in 2008. Under the Bank’s branch network development strategy, the number of NOMOS-BANK’s points of presence shall double in the near future to 100 locations.

The Bank’s IFRS reporting data as of 30 June 2008 has been confirmed by “Deloitte and Touche” auditors.

“The Bank’s envisage further development and strengthening of its own positions as a universal network bank, primarily focussed on servicing the corporate segment giving priority to small and medium enterprises, as well as on simultaneous developing retail products and services portfolio”, — underscored NOMOS-BANK’s President Dmitriy Sokolov.