* Net interest income beats analyst forecasts
* CFO reiterates forecast for 10 percent provisions year-end
* No new developments on sponsored GDR listing
(Adds CFO conference call, analysts)
By Melissa Akin and Oksana Kobzeva
MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Sberbank, Russia's top lender, beat forecasts with a net profit of 5.4 billion roubles ($173 million) in the second quarter of 2009 as it managed to boost its margin on lending despite rising loan loss provisions.
"The earnings beat was driven by higher-than-expected net interest income on the back of rising lending yields," Citi analysts said in a note on the report.
Net interest income came in at 129.03 billion roubles, against an average forecast of 119.41 billion roubles in a Reuters poll of 11 analysts.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast a net profit of 4.2 billion roubles for the three months to end-June.
Sberbank said in a statement provisions totalled 388.1 billion roubles, or 7.1 percent of its loan portfolio, as of June 30.
The bank said non-performing loans rose to 6.4 percent of its loan portfolio as of June 30.
Chief Financial Officer Anton Karamzin told reporters the bank would continue making significant provisions through the first quarter of next year and affirmed earlier forecasts of 10 percent provisioning by the end of the year.
He also reiterated the bank would post a small profit for the year.
TOO HOT
The share opened up but tipped into a 2 percent loss on the day as analysts said drivers for the share, which has led gains in Russian blue chips in recent weeks as a play on an improving Russian economic outlook, had been exhausted.
"We continue to like the story, but ordinaries have rallied 16.2 percent over the last week versus the RTS's (gain) of 9.2 percent) and the stock now looks too "hot" for us," VTB Capital analysts said.
Investors had also bought the share in hope of fresh developments in the bank's plan to replace an illiquid, unsponsored Frankfurt listing of Global Depositary Receipts with a broader, sponsored London listing.
"We are in discussions with regulators and for now it is too early to expect decisions," Karamzin said. "There are no time frames or parameters," he said, adding that he did not rule out conversion of existing shares into GDRs to provide liquidity for a GDR programme.
There was no news on two closely watched acquisitions: the Magna-led bid for GM's European assets, which Sberbank is helping to finance, and Sberbank's interest in Kazakh bank BTA.
Karamzin said the bank was still in due diligence on a possible acquisition of BTA and would probably decide in late autumn, likely November. ($1=31.14 roubles) (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, Melissa Akin and Oksana Kobzeva; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Elaine Hardcastle)