Page 76 - RusRPTFeb19

8.1 Bank sector overview 8.1.1 Earnings
Russia’s banking sector recovery is well underway with the sector turning in its best aggregate profit since March and earning more in the eleven months of this year than it earned in the full year for the last three years.
Russian banks earned RUB212bn ($100mn) in November, which is only slightly less than the RUB236bn they earned in March this year and move than any other month in the last four years, bar April 2017 (RUB214bn) and November 2015 (RUB264).
Cumulatively and the RUB1.28 trillion banks have earned is already more than the cumulative profit for the full years over the last four years and also 1.5- times more than the result for November last year, according to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) data release on December 18.
The Central Bank notes that the aggregate financial sector results were significantly held back by the performance of banks that have been reorganized and are now owned by the CBR controlled Banking Sector Consolidation Fund, a rescue fund the regulator set up last year to help failed big banks.
If these troubled banks are counted out then the profits of the sector would have been even higher at 1.7 trillion. Almost all of the rest of the banks are profitable, or 356 out of just under 500 banks in total, or 73%. Total losses of RUB504bn ($237mn) were recorded in 123 banks.
The loan portfolio of banks in the 11 months of this year increased by 6%, while the growth of retail lending boomed and was up 21.4%. Deposits by companies grew by 2.5%, while the deposits of individuals was up by 2.4%.
76 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com