Page 48 - RusRPTFeb19

the series history,” Jones added.
"Although IHS Markit's current forecasts show GDP growth moderating slightly in 2019, the latest new business expansion remained sharp. Survey respondents also noted the fastest rise in new export orders since data collection began in September 2014, signalling robust international client demand,” Jones said. “Inflationary pressures cooled, with rates of both input price and output charge inflation softening in December amid greater competition. At the composite level, both manufacturers and service providers registered a solid increase in output in December. Employment continued to rise as the level of positive sentiment towards the year ahead rose to one of the strongest since 2012."
4.3.2 Corporate profits dynamics
Russian companies had their most profitable October in three years, earning cumulative profits for the year worth $174 billion – about a third more than they earned over the same period a year earlier. Banks too are also black in profit after two years of losses, earning twice last October what they earned in the same month a year earlier. Indeed state-owned oil company Rosneft earned more in the first quarter of 2018 than in all of 2017 and the retail banking giant Sberbank earned more in just October than the entire sector earned in 2016.
Russia’s corporate sector net profit was down 8.5% in 2017 y/y, according to Rosstat. The trend runs counter to GDP growth, which hit 1.5% last year after contracting by 0.2% in 2016.
In nominal terms, net profit reached RUB10.3 trillion ($180bn): some 34.8 thousand organizations brought in profits of RUB12.3 trillion, while another 12.4 thousand faced losses of RUB1.96 trillion. This data does not include small businesses, insurance companies, state institutions, or banks.
On a sectoral level, extractive industries led the pack, where net profit was up 17.9%, and a staggering 40% for hydrocarbons. Agriculture, meanwhile,
48 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com