Bank St Petersburg reported net profit (RAS) of RUB 304m (down 84% y/y) for 1H09 and RUB 13m (down 95% q/q) for 2Q09. The weak bottom-line results are mainly due to an increase in net provisioning by (+93% YTD) to RUB 8.5bn in 1H09, whilst overdue debt climbed from 0.5% at the beginning of the year to 3.2% of gross loans (amounting to RUB 4.8bn) at the end of June.This implies provision coverage was still very high at a level of 176% at the end of 1H09. Vedomosti reports that management plans to lift provisions to RUB 10bn-11bn by year-end, implying that requirements will be considerably lower in the second half, which should improve profitability. The bank expects full-year net profit to reach RUB 1bn. We view the guidance from management, for a better second half, positively and expect it to support the bank’s stock price.