VTB Bank PJSC reported first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent of 55.6 billion Russian rubles under International Financial Reporting Standards, up from 28.1 billion rubles earned in the same period in 2017.

EPS for the first quarter amounted to 0.430 kopeck, up from 0.218 kopeck a year earlier.

Return on equity for the first quarter was 16%, according to VTB Bank management board Chairman Andrey Kostin.

Net interest income increased on a yearly basis to 116.3 billion rubles from 113.0 billion rubles. Net fee and commission income amounted to 21.9 billion rubles in the period, compared to 19.7 billion rubles in the first quarter of 2017.

Noninterest gains came in at 9.7 billion rubles, up from 6.8 billion rubles in the year-ago period.

The Russian bank booked in the period a provision charge of 20.5 billion rubles for credit losses on debt financial assets, compared to 43.5 billion rubles a year earlier. The total provision charge amounted to 20.7 billion rubles, down year over year from 45.9 billion rubles.

VTB's nonperforming loans stood at 7.1% of gross customer loans at March-end, compared to 6.9% as of Jan. 1, when the new IFRS 9 accounting regulations were implemented. The Russian bank's Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio and total capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.7% and 14.5%, respectively, as of March 31, compared to 12.6% and 14.4% at the beginning of January.

"VTB Group's first-quarter performance gives us full confidence that we are well on track to meet our targets for the year, and to deliver on our three-year strategy," Kostin noted.

As of May 16, US$1 was equivalent to 62.00 Russian rubles.