Page 70 - RusRPTFeb20

Russia's largest bank Sberbank says that it could float stakes with IPOs in a number of its key non-banking assets​, RIA Novosti reported on December 12 citing the deputy head and CTO of the bank Lev Khasis at the Investor Day. The assets in question are Yandex.Market (e-marketplace, joint venture with Yandex), VisionLabs biometric start-up, Rambler online media major, Citimobil and Delivery Club (taxi and food delivery service, JV with Mail.ru). Khasis notes that the companies in which the state-controlled Sberbank does hold a controlling stake have good public market potential, as sanction and geopolitical risks would be minimal. At the Invertor Day Sberbank also presented the guidance for 2020 and elaborated its short-term strategy. The bank expects ROE (return on equity) of over 20%, stronger reading on net interest margin (NIM) at 5.1-5.3% and first-tier capital ratio of over 14% (12.5% target previously). "On corporate side the management emphasized more prudent approach in lending with focus on quality without strict focus on market shares (31% currently)," BCS Global Markets commented on December 11. Among the priorities are SME lending (RUB1.7 trillion portfolio with 35% market share), escrow accounts (RUB698bn and expectations of doubling next year) and agrosector. On the technology side, Sberbank has created a new digital platform and wants to transfer 80% of its business to this by 2022. AI is seen as contributing $1bn of profit in 2020 due to the wide integration and savings on operating expenses and cost of risk, as well as contributing to incomes. Sberbank's total investments into ecosystem comprised RUB125bn or 3% of equity with 25 companies developed in-house and current 2.7% net asset share.
70​ RUSSIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com