Sberbank Q3 Profit Slips

Russia's Sberbank reported a 25% drop in its third-quarter net profit due to increase in provisions to cover bad loans. The bank's quarterly net profit declined to 71.3 billion rubles ($1.54 billion), versus a year-ago profit of 94.6 billion rubles. Analysts were expecting a profit of 70.5 billion rubles. Net fee and commission income climbed to 69.6 billion rubles in the quarter, compared to 56.5 billion rubles. Its net interest income in the quarter climbed 17% y/y to 255.2 billion rubles. Net profit for the nine months to September dropped to 241.3 billion rubles, or 11.13 rubles per share, versus a year-ago profit of 268.3 billion rubles, or 12.4 rubles per share. Its net interest income in the same period gained 19.5% to 745.1 billion rubles from 623.3 billion rubles, while net interest margin narrowed 10 basis points to 5.7%.