Damages from the invasion of Ukraine: The Russian bank Sberbank reported today (Thursday) a drop of 78.3% in the annual profit in 2022 compared to 2021, this following the sanctions of the European Union.
According to an article in CNN, Sberbank published HU results according to international reporting standards, and this for the first time in a year. Russian authorities ordered banks to limit dividend payments last year in an attempt to maintain financial stability.
Sberbank’s net annual profit reached 270.5 billion rubles ($3.75 billion). However, the bank’s chief executive, German Graf, said this year’s profits are close to the record 1.25 trillion rubles ($16.5 billion) earned in the “year before the crisis.”
“Our business model has passed another test of strength,” said Graf, adding that the bank will now return to examine dividend payments on the results of 2022, and the decision on this will be made this month. The Russian Finance Ministry expects the state-owned bank to distribute 50% of its profits in 2022 as dividends.
Sberbank’s relative resilience in the face of sanctions has helped Russia’s banking sector recover from losses in the first half of 2022. Other banks, such as VTB, the second largest, have not fared as well, and Russia’s central bank warned last week of “systemic risks” to the financial sector.
“We implemented an anti-crisis plan, radically changed our priorities and took the strictest austerity measures,” Graf said. “We closed and sold international businesses and blocked assets,” he added. According to Sberbank, the amount of savings exceeded 240 billion rubles ($3.2 billion), and operating costs decreased by 1.5% compared to last year. “Since the sanctions were imposed, the bank managed to return 6 billion dollars in foreign currency from abroad,” Graf said.