OREANDA-NEWS. Rosbank posted an increase of 181% in IFRS net profits in 1H07 to $142 mln. Meanwhile, the bank’s loan portfolio grew just 9% YTD, compared to the market average of 23% for corporate loans and 26% for retail. Furthermore, Rosbank’s assets declined by 13% to $9.7 bln in 1H07.

In the view of Alfa Bank analysts, though they see a significant improvement in the bank’s ROE from 15.1% in 2006 to 24.6% in 1H07, "however, a decline in assets and slower growth in thebank’s loan portfolio imply that the bank is losing market share and that its business is shrinking. We therefore believe the improvement in the bank’s profitability is a one-off and reiterate our 'hold' recommendation," the experts noted.