Home Credit & Finance Bank, a business specializing in consumer lending, decreased its net profit (calculated in accordance with the IAS) by 24.3% in the first quarter of 2012 compared with a year earlier; the figure reached 2.4bn RUR. This had to do with the bank’s expenses related to the expansion of branch network and IT infrastructure, the bank reports.

The company’s operating profit rose by 33.1% in January-March 2012 and came to 10bn RUR, RIA Novosti reports.

Despite the market inertia typical of the first quarter of the year, Home Credit & Finance Bank managed to increase its lending portfolio by 7.3%, which was better than the average figure for consumer loans within the banking system on the whole (6.3%). The bank’s lending portfolio thus amounted to 121.1bn RUR.