By Sabela Ojea

Sberbank Rossia reported Thursday a significant rise in net profit for the third quarter of the year and said it remains cautiously optimistic until the end of the year.

The Russian bank's net profit rose 74% to 271.4 billion Russian rubles ($3.43 billion) compared with the same period a year earlier.

Net interest income reached RUB411.3 billion from RUB353.9 billion, it added.

The lender's common equity Tier 1 ratio--a key measure of balance-sheet strength--stood at 13.84%, down from 14.78% as at June 30.

Sberbank Rossia added that its cost-to-income ratio fell to 29.6%, with its gross loans reaching RUB24.5 trillion, up by 5.7%, excluding the foreign-exchange revaluation effect.

"We expect that business activity will somewhat slow in the fourth quarter as the pandemic continues. However, our solid financial position and upcoming seasonal uptick allows us to remain cautiously optimistic until the end of the year," Chief Financial Officer Alexandra Buriko said.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-29-20 0352ET