Page 52 - RusRPTMay21

4.3.2 Corporate profits dynamics
Corporate profits grew very strongly in February, the latest data available, increasing to RUB1,757bn ($23.35bn) in the month, up from RUB1,359bn a month earlier.
Both results were better than any time in the last five years and February’s result was almost triple the RUB609bn that companies earned in the same month in 2020 – well before the economy received any of the shocks that dominated last year’s story.
On a cumulative base Russian companies have now earned RUB3,116bn in the first two months of this year, an amount it took them four months to earn in 2018 and 2020 although they earned the same in three months in 2019, which was the first year the economy began to rally after the previous oil price shock in 2014.
Corporate profits are now running ahead of all of the last five years and is another sign that the Russian economy is making a faster recovery than expected.
52 RUSSIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com