Bank Forum Enjoys Strong July

Bank Forum (FORM: HOLD), Ukraine’s 13th largest bank by assets, reported net income of USD 5.6 mln (+49.6% yoy). Assets during the period grew 40% YTD to USD 2.0 bln. The bank’s gross loan portfolio increased 41.6% to USD 1.4 bln. Client deposits rose 41.2% to USD 868.8 mln. Alexander Viktorov:  Forum’s USD 1.2 mln net income in July was 1/3 of the amount the bank recorded for the entire 1H. Additionally the increases in the bank’s loans and assets were almost half of what the bank saw in 6M07. It is too early to saw whether is this a long-term tendency or just a short-term jump, thus we will wait for the bank’s complete 7M results. We maintain our target and recommendation.