YEREVAN, November 23. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) expects its year-end earnings to rise to 4.5 billion drams, its chief executive officer Yuri Gusev said today.

"In the first three quarters we earned 2.5 billion drams. We expect to achieve all planned targets," he said at a press conference on Friday.

According to Gusev, one of the most important indicators for the bank is the return on equity (ROE) indicator, which for the first three quarters was 11.54% and is expected to rise further to 15 percent.
Gusev also said that the bank's assets by the end of the third quarter stood at 184.5 billion drams, while its outstanding loan portfolio grew to 140 billion drams.

VTB 24 vice-president Vsevolod Smakov said VTB Bank (Armenia) is strengthening its position in Armenia’s retail sector.

"Thanks to efficient lending to individuals and small businesses, attracting fresh funds from the population and expansion of the branch network VTB Bank (Armenia) has become a leading bank by many parameters," he said.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is fully owned by Russian financial group VTB. It runs 69 branches across Armenia, more than any other bank. -0-