Vilniaus, which said it will release 1998 unaudited, unconsolidated profit of 54.8 million litas. profit was 47.6 million litas.

Vilniaus, the second largest bank in Lithuania with assets of 2.345 billion litas in November, had originally forecast a net profit of 73.6 million litas for the year, but analysts and bank officials said a shortfall would not be worrying.

"They have remained in the black and grown profits from 1997 so considering what's happened to the rest of the Baltic banks, that's outstanding Williams de Broe analyst Richard Windsor.

Banks across the Baltic states have been hurt by exposure to Russia after Moscow announced an effective rouble devaluation and de facto default on domestic debt in mid-August.

Both of Estonia's leading institutions and Latvia's second-largest bank are expected to end 1998 in losses. Vilniaus Bank has said its direct Russian exposure is negligible.

Windsor put his estimate for Vilniaus' 1998 profit between 60 and 67.5 million litas, but others were less optimistic, saying the bank may still provision for loans to local companies with Russian exposure.

Hansabank Markets analyst Augustas Staniulis said profits should come in around 55 million litas as he expected losses for some subsidiaries to show up in consolidated results.

But said the result was still fairly positive.

"They've got superior market position, good management and little direct exposure to Russia...but their indirect exposure to sectors affected by Russia -- like dairies and pharmaceuticals -- is large, and that will hurt them next year," he said.

Analysts said the presence of foreign partner Swedish SEB, which took a one-third stake in Vilniaus late year through a new share issue, would keep profits stable to higher in 1999.

"I expect 1999 profits somewhere between 55 and 60 million litas. I believe their policies will not be growth-oriented, more conservative, looking for safety and not high returns, especially in the area of lending," said Staniulis. Windsor was more bullish, predicting a 1999 bottom line 86.7 million litas.

"You'll get a recovery in trading income and steady growth of the loan portfolio. Analysts also said the partnership with SEB would better access to new technologies, risk management and modern products, all of which should boost the net result, although earnings per share is expected to shrink a bit.

With Vilniaus' share price well above September lows, before the announcement of its SEB deal, traders said the release of 1998 figures should not seriously impact the share.

"The share added some value when SEB paid substantially over the market price (for its stake) and I think the current share price reflects an expected profit of around 60 million litas," said Suprema dealer Tomas Jacikevichius.