SBER.L Regulatory News (SBER)

Sberbank releases Financial Highlights for 4M 2019 (under RAS; non-consolidated)

Please note that the numbers are calculated in accordance with Sberbank's internal methodology.

Also note that some changes became effective in the Russian accounting standards in 2019 as part of convergence with IFRS, including transition to IFRS 9. May 14, 2019

Key highlights for April 2019:

Deputy Chairman of Sberbank Alexander Morozov stated:

"We earned a record net profit in April in the amount of RUB75.2 bn, as net interest income gathered momentum and quality of our loan portfolio improved. April performance was in line with our expectations. An increasing share of retail lending in our loan portfolio remains a major long-term driver of sustainably high return on equity, which stood at 22.3% for 4M 2019."

Comments for 4M 2019:

Net interest income growth accelerated as was largely expected - up by 0.6% y-o-y to RUB406.3 bn. Meanwhile, monthly dynamics y-o-y accelerated to 4.8%.

Net fee and commission income was up by 7.9% to RUB138.8 bn, driven mainly by operations with bank cards and settlement transactions. As part of convergence with IFRS, starting from 2019 the Bank changed the methodology of fees and commission accounting that affected the timing of their recognition and will be largely absorbed by year end.

Operating expenses increased by 9.7%. OpEx dynamics in 1H2019 remains affected by staff reshuffling from Sberbank Technologies JSC to Sberbank PJSC that took place in the second half of 2018, as well as VAT rate increase from January 1, 2019. Cost-to-income ratio came at 32.2%.

Restructuring of the Agrokor debt led to provision release in April in the amount of RUB11.2 bn. Provision charges totaled RUB14.2 bn for 4M 2019. As of May 1, loan-loss provisions were 2.9 times that of the overdue loans. Impairment of loans at fair value amounted to RUB2.8 bn in 4M 2019.

Net profit before tax grew by 12.0% to RUB370.0 bn for 4M 2019. The Bank made a final tax payment based on the taxable 1Q 2019 profit, in accordance with the Russian legislation, that had a one-off impact on tax expenses. In the meantime, effective tax rate for 4M was 20.7% vs 20.6% for the same period a year before. Net profit increased by 11.9% to RUB293.4 bn.

Total assets increased by 1.0% in April to over RUB27.5 trn, led by retail lending and securities.

The Bank lent RUB850 bn to corporate clients in April and RUB3.3 trn in 4M 2019. Corporate loan portfolio decreased by 1.5% in April to RUB12.9 trn.

Loan issuance to retail clients exceeded RUB280 bn in April and amounted to about RUB1.0 trn year to date. Retail loan portfolio grew in April by 1.7% to RUB6.5 trn.

Overdue loans decreased in April by RUB63.9 bn, given among other factors restructuring of the Agrokor debt. The share of overdue loans in corporate portfolio decreased from 2.36% to 1.89%, while overdues in the total portfolio were down from 2.45% to 2.13%, which is substantially lower than the banking sector's average (8.9% excl. Sberbank as of April 1, 2019).

Securities portfolio grew in April by 4.6% to around RUB3.3 trn, largely due to purchases of short-term commercial papers and OFZs.

Client deposits and accounts added RUB359 bn or 2.8% in April, offsetting the outflows from corporate accounts in the amount of RUB231 bn or 3.2%. Combined client funding grew by 0.6% in April to over RUB20.2 bn.

Core Tier 1 and Tier 1 capital remained virtually unchanged in April. Total capital increased by RUB60 bn.

Risk-weighted assets increased by RUB274 bn driven by retail lending expansion and securities portfolio growth.

* preliminary calculations