MOSCOW: Russia's biggest vanmaker GAZ recorded a four-fold rise in net profit in 2011 to 8.5 billion roubles ($274.87 million) and expects to achieve similar financial results in 2012, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
GAZ, majority owned by tycoon Oleg Deripaska, forecast in November that full-year 2011 net profit would come at 3.5-4.0 billion roubles after it earned 2.1 billion roubles in net profit in 2010.
A revival in demand after the 2008-2009 crisis drove revenues up 37 percent, year-on-year, to 132.4 billion roubles, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 64 percent to 13.97 billion, GAZ said.
According to the Association for European Businesses (AEB), GAZ's sales rose 17 percent in 2011.