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Weekly Lists
January 26, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
bne:Banker Russian retail lending
grows 13% in 2017
Retail lending grew 13% year-on-year in Russia in 2017, according to the preliminary banking sector data released by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), while the aggregate corporate loan book remained flat y/y in 2017.
The Russian banking sector is now returning to health, despite the implosion of several large commercial banks in the second half of 2017. Russian banking sector aggregate profit in 2017 declined by 15% y/y to RUB790mn due to the ongoing clean-up of the sector waged by the CBR.
The asset quality of the retail portfolio also improved, while it deteriorated slightly on the corporate side.
Retail and corporate deposit accounts increased 7% y/y and 2% y/y, respectively, and by 11% and 5% excluding the FX factor and banks with revoked licences.
"While we expect the clean-up process to continue in 2018, we think that a recovery in total loan growth as well as lower provision charges will help banks to improve their profitability and strengthen their capital position ahead of regulations being tightened further," VTB forecasts.
Russia's bailed-out Promsvyazbank (PSB) will write off $1.3bn of Eurobonds after its capital went negative in January, the bank announced on the Ireland Stock Exchange on January 23.
PSB was the latest garden-ring bank to be nationalised by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), and will now be converted into Russia’s "defence bank" by the authorities, designated to service the military-industrial complex and shield Russia's RUB23 trillion armament program from sanctions.
As of December 25 PSB's capital was negative at minus RUB134bn ($2.37bn), according to the announcement, driven by RUB208bn
in losses.
Thus the bank writes off two issues of perpetual Eurobonds worth $600mn (placed in 2014 and 2016), as well as two issues of subordinated bonds ($433mn maturing in 2021 and $283mn maturing in 2019).
Promsvyazbank writes off $1.3bn of Eurobonds