Sberbank held back profits – Finance – Kommersant

In 2022, the net profit of the Sberbank group under IFRS amounted to 270 billion rubles. This result is four times lower than the previous year, but in a rather difficult environment, the bank managed to increase both interest and commission income, while reducing operating expenses. At the same time, the bank went for a sharp increase in reserves for the loan portfolio, which ultimately affected the financial result. However, in the near future, thanks to the profit received, the credit institution will not need additional capitalization from external sources, although the bank will not reach the 2021 profit indicators until next year.

According to consolidated reporting Sberbank under IFRS for 2022, the group’s net profit amounted to 270.5 billion rubles, while in 2021 it reached 1.2 trillion rubles. Analysts of the My Investments Telegram channel expected a profit of 310 billion rubles. (that is, at the level of the parent bank’s profit under RAS, about 300 billion rubles, see “Kommersant” of February 9). Net interest income grew by 6.6% to RUB 1.87 trillion, net fee and commission income grew by 15.4% to RUB 697.1 billion.

In general, at the end of the year, the return on assets decreased by 2 p.p., to 1.1%, the return on equity – by 19 p.p., to 5.2%, the net interest margin – by only 0.07 p.p. , up to 5.31%.

It follows from the report that in the structure of commission income from acquiring decreased by 4 billion rubles, to 411.7 billion rubles, from settlement and cash services increased by 18.1 billion rubles, to 283.8 billion rubles, from operations clients with foreign currency and precious metals grew by 1.4 times, to 80.4 billion rubles. The bank also reported an increase in net income from bank cards by more than 26% yoy. “A significant contribution to the growth of commission income in 2022 was made by income from conversion operations (growth by 45%) against the backdrop of high volatility in exchange rates during the year,” the bank said in a statement.

At the same time, the bank increased its gross credit card portfolio from RUB 905.3 billion to RUB 1.145 trillion over the year, while the consumer loan portfolio decreased by RUB 152 billion to RUB 3.53 trillion, and the car loan portfolio by almost RUB 4 billion ., up to 190.4 billion rubles. The portfolio of project financing for legal entities grew by RUB 1.7 trillion to RUB 5.96 trillion. and commercial lending to companies – by 0.11 trillion rubles, up to 11.6 trillion rubles.

According to the head of Sberbank German Gref, the retail portfolio “shows good quality, restructuring grew by only 0.2 percentage points.” In his opinion, this is an optimistic result. In the corporate portfolio, the bank also sees no prerequisites for significant problems this year: many borrowers have already adapted to the current situation, many are in the process of adaptation, Mr. Gref noted. In addition, the bank disclosed that in 2022 it created 555 billion rubles. loan portfolio provisions. At the same time, the net distortion of reserves for loans in the sector as a whole amounted to 1.4 trillion rubles. At the same time, according to German Gref, the bank has a “conservative approach” to the formation of reserves.

Most likely, by the end of 2023, the volume of additional creation of reserves will decrease from the current level, but will remain above 2021, says Natalya Milchakova, Leading Analyst at Freedom Finance Global. “In the first half of the year, there was a collapse of the ruble and a sharp drop in real incomes of the population, a deterioration in the financial situation of legal entities, many Sberbank customers also found themselves under sanctions. Accordingly, the demand for loans decreased and there was a risk of delay, so we had to create a large amount of reserves,” she recalls.

At the same time, in the second half of 2022, the situation recovered, “and in terms of lending dynamics, the bank was doing well, at least when compared with the sector as a whole,” the expert notes. According to Ms. Milchakova, Sberbank will reach 2021 profitability indicators no earlier than 2024. “The situation is still tense, the economy is in the red, and its recovery can be expected in 2024,” she said.

As follows from the statement of the head of the bank to the IFRS statements, the bank has introduced “strictest austerity measures”.

“We created a special structure within the bank, which dealt with the consideration of our entire spending budget, in fact, there was not a single cost item that would not have been sequestered,” Mr. Gref later said.

Thus, operating expenses in a difficult 2022 at Sberbank decreased by 1.5%, to 822 billion rubles. At the same time, there was no reduction in wages for ordinary employees, even special payments were introduced for employees who worked in extreme conditions, in particular in border areas, German Gref said. “Since we have earned less profit (the incentive program is tied to the amount of net profit.— “b”), management payouts were significantly reduced. The amount of cuts is escalated depending on the level of management. Board members have lost the most,” he said. As a result, cost optimization amounted to 240 billion rubles, while net profit was 270 billion rubles. “You can imagine what the net profit would have been if we had not taken these steps,” the head of Sberbank said.

At the end of 2022, the bank’s capital adequacy ratios increased by 0.9 p.p., to 14.8%. At the same time, the additional capital of Sberbank also includes a subordinated loan for 150 billion rubles received in 2008. But the bank does not plan to return it.

“If we give back a subordinated loan, we will lose the opportunity to pay dividends in such a volume. It can be returned, but our shareholders will lose,” Mr. Gref noted. At the same time, according to him, the bank plans to continue self-capitalizing at the expense of profits, so that in the near future external sources of capital replenishment will not be required.

Olga Sherunkova