OAO Bank VTB Swings to Net Loss

Russia 's No. 2 lender, OAO Bank VTB (VTBR.RS), Tuesday said it swung to a net loss in the first quarter and lowered its year-end outlook for bad debts in what it described as extremely tough economic conditions , Wall Street Journal reports.

The first quarter loss is worse than most analysts expected and nearly twice as big as VTB-produced consensus estimate of 12 billion rubles ($387.2 million). Loan losses were also much higher than expected , Los Angeles Times reports.

The bank posted a net loss of 20.5 billion roubles ($656 million) compared with a forecast 12.4 billion loss after provisions rose more than expected, eating into the capital of a bank which analysts see as an indicator of the health of the wider Russian banking sector.

"The bank showed a net loss ... which is almost twice higher than both our and consensus estimates," analysts at brokerage Rye, Man and Gor Securities said in a note. "We are really surprised by such a result, since both our and consensus estimates were quite pessimistic." , Reuters reports.