Page 8 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

8 I Companies & Markets bne November 2021
Sber becomes Europe’s most valuable bank
bne IntelliNews
Sber (formerly known as Sberbank) became the most valuable bank in Europe on October 7. Previously the first place was held by the British HSBC, Russian media reported.
As bne IntelliNews reported, Russia’s stock market RTS index surged in the second week of October to break above the 1,800 mark for the first time in a decade. While the headline RTS index is up some 32% year to date, most of the investors’ attention has been focused on the banking sector, which was up over 70% as of October 8. Sber and TCS Group have been attracting the most attention and driving the sector’s valuation up.
The cost of Sberbank shares has renewed its historical maximum: one share was worth more than RUB366 ($5.10).
Russia's stock market is surging and the banking sector is up by 70% year to date, making Sber the most valuable bank in the process, worth more than $113bn.
Market capitalisation exceeded RUB8.25 trillion ($113bn) against HSBC's valuation, which was $30bn less as of October 7.
The vice-president of Sberbank, Vladislav Kreinin, noted
in an interview that the growth of purely banking services, taking into account the new regulation, will be limited over the next ten years and all the growth will come from the bank’s turn to fintech and online services, as cited by Russia Business Today.
About a hundred of the bank’s 13,000 branches have already been transformed within the framework of the new ecosystem, and the plans are to open about 6,000 more, TV channel “Russia 24” reported.
Russian IT major Softline to hold IPO,
use cash for M&As
bne IntelliNews
Softline, an international digital transformation and cybersecurity solution and service provider with Russian roots, has announced it will hold an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on London Stock Exchange, the company said on September 30.
With half its business in Russia, the company has been rapidly expanding overseas and now styles itself as an international company with Russian roots.
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“Russia still makes up about half our business, but we are
a truly international company now,” Softline CEO Sergey Chernovolenko told bne IntelliNews in an exclusive interview. “We serve all the big markets but we have a focus on the emerging markets, as the growth potential in those markets is bigger.”
The listing will raise cash to continue that strategy that was developed in co-operation with the company’s key investor Da Vinci Capital, which bought a 20% stake in Softline four years ago.