OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2008. Balance sheet profit generated by the Bank of Moscow in the first half of 2008 came to Rub 5.6 bln while net profit amounted to Rub 4.4 bln. So, balance sheet profit increased 20% whereas net profit surged 32% against the same period of 2007.

The Bank’s assets (according to the financial accounts released) rose 36% to Rub 584.7 bln, from July 1, 2007.

The Bank of Moscow’s equity (calculated according to the Central Bank methodology) leaped Rub 9.7 bln (18%) in the 12 months to Rub 64.8 bln as of July 1, 2008. The Bank mulls a further increase in its equity: on June 11, 2008, the Central Bank registered the prospectus for a 12th share issue by the Bank of Moscow. The number of shares to be placed is 7,358,648.

As of July1, 2008, the number of corporate customers totaled 106,000. The number of household clients rose almost 20% to 9.1 million in the 12 months.

The total amount of funds attracted from the Bank’s clients (including funds of lending institutions and debt instruments issued) grew 38% to Rub 535.2 bln since July1, 2007, the funds raised from households (including the balances on plastic cards) coming to Rub 125.8 bln. In expanding its programme of international borrowing, the Bank of Moscow took a \\$220 mln syndicated loan from a pool of foreign banks.

The total number of plastic cards issued by the Bank of Moscow, as of July 1, 2008, stood at 9.8 million. The number of ATMs has topped 1,700.

The Bank’s credit portfolio (for corporate and private clients) jumped 47% from July 1, 2007 to Rub 408.0 bln as of July 1, 2008. Loans to households nearly doubled to Rub 89.9 bln in the 12 months.

The Bank of Moscow provides services to its clients through a network of 373 offices. During the first six months, the Bank operated a network of 122 offices in all Moscow’s administrative districts and a number of cities and towns of the Moscow Region as well as 251 sub-offices in regional centres of Russia.

The reliability of the Bank has been confirmed by major international rating agencies. Moody’s Investors Service assigned the Bank of Moscow the long-term credit rating of Baа1 (the outlook is "positive"). Fitch Ratings rated the Bank of Moscow at BBB (the outlook being "stable").