MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. Russian banks earned 203 bln rubles ($2.4 bln) in August compared to 397 bln rubles ($4.7 bln) in July, the Central Bank reported.
"The sector's profit (excluding dividends from Russian subsidiary banks) amounted to 203 bln rubles, which is significantly lower than 397 bln rubles in July," the regulator said.
Banks have earned 2.3 trillion rubles year-to-date ($27 bln), which is slightly lower than 2.4 trillion rubles for the same period last year.
The contraction was due to an increase in reserves for corporate loans (+67 bln rubles), among other things, as well as a decrease in net interest income (-36 bln rubles), primarily in the corporate segment where loans with floating rates account for about 65% of the portfolio, the Bank of Russia said.