Raiffeisen, Impexbank Merger to Dampen 2007 Growth

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Raiffeisenbank Austria's merger with Russian Impexbank, which was completed on Friday, will weigh on its 2007 growth figures, said Johann Jonach, the head ofthe new legal entity, ZAO Raiffeisenbank.

"Growth will be less dynamic than last year because of our internal process of re-educating and training our staff, and also because of the conditions on financial markets," Jonach told a news conference.

At 3.7 billion roubles ($152.2 million), the bank's profits for 2006 grew 60.5 percent relative to the year before. Jonach declined to give a profit forecast for this year.

Raiffeisenbank Austria, the Russian subsidiary of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding (RIBH.VI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), bought Impexbank for $550 million in February 2006 in a deal that made it the largest foreign player in Russia's fast-growing banking sector.

The new bank will begin operating on Monday with 250 branches in 44 regions, a network that it plans to expand aggressively as demand for business and consumer loans in Russia continues to boom.

(Reporting by Simon Shuster, Editing by David Cowell)