Home Credit & Finance Bank IFRS net profit rises 130% in 2006

MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Home Credit & Finance Bank (HCFB) said Wednesday its net profit, calculated to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), grew 130%, year-on-year, in 2006, to 699 million rubles (about $26.6 million).

HCFB, one of Russia's largest consumer credit banks, attributed its net profit growth in the reporting period to an increase in net interest income.

"This result can be explained by a 44% increase in net interest income, to 8.1 billion rubles (about $307.9 million) in 2006, from 5.6 billion rubles (about $212.9 million at the current exchange rate) a year earlier," the bank said.

The bank's asset value grew 15.3% in the reporting period, to 45.39 billion rubles (about $1.7 billion), and its shareholder equity was up 16.4%, to 9.96 billion rubles (about $378.8 million), HCFB said.

The bank granted 56.1 billion rubles ($2.1 billion) worth of loans in 2006, an increase of 17.1% on the 2005 figure, HCFB said.

HCFB is a member of the Home Credit Group that operates on the Eastern European consumer credit market, and is part of the PPF international group.