Positive figures just released by Sberbank have been offered by banking chiefs as evidence of the bank’s return to profitability.

The significant increase in quarterly profits are believed to be the result of cost cutting by Sberbank, and a fall in provisions against bad loans.

The net profits reported by the state-controlled bank of 43.5 billion roubles (£945m) are for the time period of January to March, up from 583 million roubles just a year previously.

There was also a noted and significant drop of 40.1 per cent to 54.3 billion roubles in the provision charge for loan impairment.

The news is seen as a positive turn for the Russian bank, previously dogged by announcements of future cuts and job losses. Cuts at one stage last year predicted a quarter of the Sberbank workforce would be culled by the year 2014.

Commenting on the quarterly figures, Sberbank reported that the drop was ‘backed by indications of economic recovery.’ It added that its profitability was now officially recovering.

Meanwhile, analyst Leonid Slipchenko at Uralsib Capital attributed the profits to the decision to offer lower provisions.

"The bank earned record-high profits due to lower provisions. Overdue loans grew insignificantly,” he said.