YEREVAN, April 18. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) earned last year the record high income of 5.6 billion drams, Yuri Gusev, the CEO of the Russian-owned bank, told a news conference today.

He said the bank's assets in 2013 increased by 43.1 % to 302.3 billion drams, the second highest indicator among local banks which constituted 10.2 % of the combined assets of all 21 banks.

He said the bank’s level of return on capital (RoC) in 2013 was 16.7 %, up from projected 15%, while the ratio of return on assets (RoA) was 2.2%. He said last year was marked by a major reformation of the branch network and introduction of new products.

In terms of retail lending VTB Bank (Armenia) was second in 2013 with a market share of about 14.7%, a one percent increase from the previous year. According to forecasts, this trend will continue this year as well, Gusev said.

By size of aggregate loan portfolio VTB Bank (Armenia) was the absolute leader last year. In 2013 it increased by 38.1 % to 232.1 billion drams, or 12.2 % of the market share.

Gusev said the number of individual customers has increased to 450 thousand people and the number of corporate customers 10 thousand.

He also praised the policies of the Central Bank and the Union of Banks of Armenia, which he said helped offset post-crisis affects.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is fully owned by Russian VTB Group. ($ 1 - 413.68 drams). -0-