Filings with the
Bank of Russia indicate that the commercial bank Bank of Moscow (АКБ «Банк
Москвы» ОАО) recorded for 2012 a net
profit (прибыль после налогообложения) of 8.215 bln RUB (€ 204 mln) as
calculated by Russian accounting standards (“RAS” – РСБУ). This is an increase of 45.3% over the net
profit of 5.653 bln RUB recorded in 2011, but still well below the net profit
of 11.391 bln RUB registered in 2010.
(On 31 Dec. 2012 one euro equaled 40.2446
RUB.)
As of 31 December
2012 the bank was ranked #6 among Russian banks by assets, with net assets of
1.377 trillion RUB (€ 34.21 bln), equivalent to roughly 10% of the assets of
Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank (13.591 tln RUB).
Sources:
Filings with the Bank
of Russia also indicate that the commercial bank National Reserve Bank (АКБ
«Национальный Резервный Банк» ОАО) recorded for 2012 a net loss (убыток после
налогообложения) of 130.78 mln RUB (€ 3.259 mln) as calculated according to RAS. This compares with a net profit of 122 mln
RUB recorded by the bank in 2011 and a net profit of 2,934 mln RUB in 2010. In 2012 the bank worked on cost optimization
by selling off shares on its balance sheet and non-core assets.
As of 31 December 2012 the bank was ranked #116
among Russian banks by assets, with net assets of 31.63 bln RUB (€ 786 mln).
Sources:
On 23 January the
rating agency AK&M (ЗАО «Рейтинговое агентство AK&M») confirmed its
earlier credit rating of “A” on the national scale – with an outlook of
“stable” – for the commercial bank IntrustBank (АКБ «ИнтрастБанк» ОАО).
The main positive factors
affecting the decision were growth in the bank’s own funds (24.5% increase in
the first 11 months of 2012), the bank’s liquidity measures (N2 = 72.8%, N3 =
87.4%, and N4 = 26.3% as of 1 Dec. 2012), and the bank’s good performance
(asset growth and net income), while negative factors were the low quality of
the bank’s capital (Tier 2 / Tier 1 = 75.9% as of 1 Dec. 2012), the low quality
of its loan portfolio (Category 1 = 2.6%, Category 2 = 49.4%, Category 3 =
44.4%), and a relatively high concentration of credit risk (N7 = 519.98%, but
still below the Bank of Russia’s maximum of 800%).
IntrustBank, which
is headquartered in Moscow and received its
banking license in 2002, had net assets of 11.922 bln RUB (€ 296.2 mln) as of 31 December 2012, making it rank #236 among
Russian banks for net assets.
Source:
On 22 January the
Bank of Russia issued a monthly statistical update on the banking sector in Russia. The following are some highlights:
In 2012 the total
assets of commercial banks grew by 18.9%, from 41,627.5 bln RUB to 49,509.6 bln
RUB (€ 1,230.2 bln). Of assets in the
banking sector, the share of assets held by banks going through bankruptcy-prevention
measures declined from 4.5% at the beginning of 2012 to 3.9% at the end of the
year.
In terms of
profitability, in 2012 a total of 901 of Russia’s 956 registered banks recorded
profits or broke even, for a combined total of 1,021.3 bln RUB (€ 25.38 bln),
while the remaining 55 banks showed a combined loss of 9.4 bln RUB (€ 0.23 bln). For comparison, in 2011 a total of 928 out of
Russia’s 978 banks had
profits or broke even (combined profit of 848.2 bln RUB), while 50 banks registered
losses (combined loss of 5.6 bln RUB).
The concentration
of the banking sector remained largely unchanged in 2012: as of 1 January 2013
the top 5 banks in Russia had 50.3% of all system assets, the next 15 banks (#6-20) controlled 19.5% of all assets, and the next 30 banks (#21-50)
controlled 11.6% of assets, while the banks ranked 51-200 had 12.9% of assets,
the three hundred banks ranked 201-500 together had just 4.5% of assets, and
the remaining several hundred banks (#501-956) controlled a mere 1.1% of
assets in the commercial banking system.
In 2012 total loans
to individuals grew by 39.4%, from 5,539.7 bln RUB to 7,721.9 bln RUB (€ 191.87
bln), while overdue loans to individuals during the same period increased 7.6%,
from 290.4 bln RUB to 312.5 bln RUB (€ 7.77 bln).
Source:
In other news, on
23 January, at the conclusion of a visit to Russia by a team from the
International Monetary Fund, the IMF issued a press release. The brief press release is reproduced below
in its entirety. (Emphasis as per
original.)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission headed by Mr.
Antonio Spilimbergo visited Moscow during January 16-23. The team met with
Finance Minister Siluanov, Central Bank of Russia Governor Ignatiev, other
senior officials, representatives of the business community, and academics. At
the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Spilimbergo made the following statement today
in Moscow:
“A moderate expansion of the Russian economy of 3.7
percent is projected for 2013. In 2012, the Russian economy
experienced historically low unemployment with high capacity utilization,
though growth slowed somewhat to 3.6 percent from 4.3 percent in 2011. The
outlook is subject to downside risks, notably from international oil prices.
Domestic risks include a negative impact from rapid retail credit growth.
Inflation is expected to ease slightly to around six percent in 2013, and will
remain above the medium-term target without further policy action.
“The macroeconomic policy framework is moving in the
right direction. The authorities have strengthened their capacity and
buffers to manage volatility and crises, and have adopted a new fiscal rule and
a more flexible exchange rate policy. Further strengthening of the
macroeconomic framework, as well as an acceleration of structural reforms, are
needed to achieve higher, sustainable growth.
“Strict and transparent implementation of the new
oil price-based fiscal rule will help smooth spending volatility and contain
spending pressures. However, under the rule, the non-oil fiscal
deficit will stay above the level that is consistent with replenishing fiscal
buffers, facilitating balanced economic growth, and ensuring adequate saving of
the income from the nation's exhaustible oil resources. The authorities should
consider a gradual shift to a more conservative oil reference price rule. A
tighter fiscal stance would also help contain inflationary pressure. Fiscal
adjustment will need to be underpinned by reforms, including of the pension and
health care systems. Securing sustainability of the pension system necessitates
an increase in the effective pension age and contribution period.
“Monetary policy should stay on hold for now, but
maintain a tightening bias. The Central Bank of Russia should stand
ready to take further action to head off price pressures, especially if steps
towards more fiscal adjustment are not undertaken. The mission supports the
Central Bank of Russia's planned move to formal inflation targeting and to
bring the headline inflation rate down to 4-5 percent by 2014. To this end,
further increases in exchange rate flexibility and improvements in the monetary
operations framework are critical.
“In the financial sector, further steps to promote
sound financial intermediation are needed to help underpin investment, growth,
and macroeconomic stability. Key shortcomings identified in the 2011 IMF assessment of
Russia’s financial sector should be addressed. To strengthen the
supervisory framework, the Central Bank of Russia should be granted adequate
authority to effectively supervise bank holding companies and related entities,
to address connected lending, and to use professional judgment in applying
regulations to individual banks. In response to the emerging risk of
overheating in retail lending, the Central Bank of Russia should stand ready to
implement further prudential measures as needed, in addition to those recently
announced.
“Structural reforms should be accelerated to boost
sustainable economic growth. Russia’s recent WTO accession should
strengthen the business climate by making it more rules-based and predictable,
and should be seized upon to strengthen the momentum for domestic reforms. We
broadly agree with the current plans to strengthen the investment climate, the
government’s privatization agenda, and the recommendations in Russia’s Strategy
2020 report. Accelerated implementation of these plans is paramount.”
Source:
Finally, on 24
January the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia, which is headed by the
bank’s governor, Sergey Mikhaylovich Ignatiev (Сергей Михайлович Игнатьев, Председатель Центрального банка
Российской Федерации), is scheduled to hold an
extraordinary meeting to consider candidates for two deputy chairman
positions. According to insiders who
spoke with the news service Liga, the most likely candidates for the two
posts are Alexei Tkachenko (Алексей Ткаченко), presently director of the
central bank’s General Department of Banking Supervision, and Nikolai N. Udovichenko
(Николай Николаевич Удовиченко), the CEO of Ukreximbank.
Sources:
Mark Pleas
Eastern Europe Banking & Deposits
Consultant
