Banks get rid of debts - Newspaper Kommersant No. 177 (7378) of 09/26/2022

Banks get rid of debts - Newspaper Kommersant No. 177 (7378) of 09/26/2022



Bankers are intensifying the sale of overdue debts, which indicates a decrease in the quality of their service. The mobilization of citizens of the Russian Federation announced on September 21 became a new significant risk. And although at the moment this will not lead to a sharp increase in bad debts due to the deferrals on payments provided, experts say, in the future, banks will face problems.

Last week, Post-Bank put up for sale a portfolio of overdue loans totaling 4.8 billion rubles, follows from the data of the Roseltorg site. There are more than 29 thousand loan records in several lots, of which 26.5 thousand with the date of the first delay from the beginning of 2020 to September 2021.

In 2020, against the backdrop of the pandemic, many clients received deferred payments, but not everyone managed to improve their financial situation and return to debt servicing. The bank previously confirmed that customers had difficulty returning to their payment schedule after the pandemic crisis (see "Kommersant" dated March 29, 2021).

Post-bank is a major retail player. At the beginning of February 2022, the bank ranked 11th in terms of the size of the portfolio of loans to the population - 456.6 billion rubles - with an overdue rate of 13%, according to Expert RA data. However, the bank's portfolio does not include mortgages and car loans. According to the analytical agency FRank RG, Post-Bank is now in fourth place in the cash loans segment.

The bank emphasized that "the assignment of the rights to claim distressed assets is a standard tool." “After February 2022, the bank suspended the regular practice of conducting assignments due to lack of demand. In August, the practice resumed, and the bank put up for sale a significant part of the cession portfolio accumulated since February,” Post Bank said. “These volumes do not exceed the volume of cession transactions in 2021.”

However, a new question has now arisen: whether an explosive growth of bad debts will follow in connection with the mobilization of citizens.

“Restructuring and loan holidays are not considered delays, therefore, it is not worth expecting a strict and sharp increase in overdue debts due to the mobilization of citizens,” Anastasia Terekhina, partner of the FBK group, believes.

Nevertheless, the mobilization itself, like military service, does not apply to force majeure, therefore, no delays in the payment of the loan are provided by law, the expert explains. In turn, the current terms of credit holidays suggest a reduction in income by 30% or more, which will not always happen in the case of mobilization, she notes. However, banks have already received recommendations to develop special programs for restructuring loans for mobilized citizens, and they will most likely be followed by a corresponding bill, Ms. Terekhina specifies.

Meanwhile, the volume of trading in overdue debts is already increasing, market participants say. “We see that over the course of the year, the total volume of bank lots on the cession market in the Russian Federation grew,” says Alexander Vasiliev, General Director of ID Collect, an overdue debt recovery service. According to the company, in the second quarter of 2022, banks put up 60% more portfolios for sale than in the first quarter. The third quarter is not over yet, but the company also predicts an upward trend.

At the same time, the quality of the portfolios put up for sale is getting worse.

In the second quarter, the share of bank debt with a delay of 1081-1800 days increased to 24% against 8% in the first quarter, explains Mr. Vasiliev, citing company data. The share of portfolios overdue by more than 1800 days increased from 15% to 20%, while the share of debts overdue by 721-1080 days remained at the level of the first quarter (41%). According to the expert's forecasts, according to the results of the third quarter, there will be an increase in the volume of debt assigned to the market, but whether the share of closed transactions will increase depends on the activity of buyers.

Olga Sherunkova, Polina Trifonova



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