Page 69 - bne IntelliNews Russia Country report May 2017

Iranians are to be able to send and receive payments through Russia’s Mir system, with Russian visitors being given the chance to use their bank cards under Shetab. The moves will allow for the use of ATMs. Earlier in May, Nasser Hakimi, head of the CBI information technology department, said Iran is in talks with several countries for the mutual inter-connecting of card payment systems.
Moscow Exchange reports neutral 1Q17 IFRS results. Fee and commission income declined 2.6% y/y and 5.5% Q/q to RUB4.9bn (in line with Interfax consensus) on dwindling trading volumes in the foreign exchange segment. Interest income dropped 32.9% y/y and 7% Q/q to RUB4.6bn (Interfax consensus RUB4.7bn) on falling interest rates, and a contraction in participants' trading balances. Opex rose 7% y/y to RUB3.3bn. As a result net income was 29.1% lower y/y, -10% Q/q, at RUB4.95bn (in line with consensus). The company's own net cash position was at RUB89.7bn at the end of 1Q17 before the dividend payment. The results are in line with consensus.
Bank Saint Petersburg reports 1Q17 IFRS results. The bank earned RUB1.48bn net income in 1Q17 (12% above consensus), up 18.4% Q/q and 26% y/y, and implying 9.7% annualised RoE. Net interest income declined 7.9% y/y, and 23% Q/q to RUB4.7bn due to net interest margin falling to 3.5% from 4.1% for 2016. The bank explained the NIM decline with increasing interest expenses related to the funding of trading activity that jumped to a solid RUB1.6bn vs RUB690mn in 4Q17, and RUB1.27bn for 1Q16. Adjusted for the latter, NIM should be in line with 4Q16 at 4.1%. F &C income increased 4% y/y/10%Q/q to RUB1.1bn, which is below expectations. Opex added 3.6% y/y, which looks fine and in line with expectations. The provision charge dipped 10% to RUB2.6bn with implied CoR at 3.1%. This is in line with the consensus forecast and the bank's own guidance (3% for the full year). NPLs (90+ days) increased a bit to 5.3% after an improvement in 4Q16 (5%).
Net profit of Russia's Vozrozhdeniye bank in January-March was RUB537mn (€8.7mn), the lender said on May 29. The bank's net interest revenue was 28% up to RUB2.9bn and net interest margin was 4.8% as opposed to the management's target figure of 4.5% and 4% in the first quarter of 2016. Operation costs were down 11%, which the lender explained by savings on personnel, as the number of employees declined by 6% over the past year. The bank's credit portfolio was up 3% in January-March, while corporate loans increased by 2%. RUB1.8bn worth of loans was released to new clients in the oil and gas industry, construction and municipal authorities
TCS Group 1Q17 43% ROE with CoR of only 7.6%. Management reiterated its FY17 guidance, including NI of at least RUB 14bn. Even after the bank posted a 7.6% CoR in 1Q17, management also reiterated its expectation of 9-10% CoR for 2017 and a 10-11% ‘normalised’ CoR average through the credit cycle. Commenting on the potential buyback of shares (the AGM provided to the BoD the right to execute a buyback of up to 10% of shares within the next 12 months), management noted that the AGM’s decision was ‘technical’ and that there is no plan to undertake a buyback. Moreover, the CEO noted there was no linkage between the possible issuance of T1 perpetual debt and buyback decisions. TCS Group has reported strong 1Q17 IFRS results, with NI of RUB 3.4bn implying an ROE of 43% and coming in line with the consensus. .
69 RUSSIA Country Report May 2017 www.intellinews.com