Russia’s largest lender state-controlled Sberbank (Sber) posted RUB737.5bn ($7.9bn) net IFRS profit in 1H23, making a return on equity of 25.5%, Kommersant daily reported citing the CEO of the bank, German Gref. In 2Q23 alone IFRS net profit stood at RUB380bn.

As followed by bne IntelliNews, Sberbank posted a RUB357bn ($4.5bn) net profit under IFRS in 1Q23. The profit for 1Q23 alone was 1.5-fold higher than the bottom line posted for all of 2022, when the bank came under sanctions for Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.

According to Gref, Sberbank showed record-high loan issuance of RUB6.6 trillion in 2Q23, with the loan portfolio growing by 7% quarter on quarter to RUB35 trillion. Deposits were up by 9.2% quarter on quarter. Net interest income in 2Q23 stood at RUB598bn in 2Q23 alone and RUB1.2 trillion in 1H23. Net fee and commission income reached RUB187bn and RUB358bn respectively.

In 2Q23 retail loan portfolio also reached RUB13.9 trillion (+7.3% q/q and +12.1% year to date), out of which mortgage portfolio exceeded RUR8.5 trillion (+8.1% q/q and +13.2% ytd) and the consumer loan portfolio was RUB3.8 trillion (+5.3% q/q and +8.1% ytd).

Previously under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) Sberbank posted a net profit of RUB728bn ($8bn) in 1H23 and RUB139bn for June 2023 alone.

To remind, Sber, under full blocking sanctions, did not pay out its RUB623bn dividend for 2021 amid the fallout from Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.

But the bank surprised with the record-breaking total dividend payout of RUB565bn ($7.3bn) in 2022, more than double the RUB271bn net profit the bank earned last year. The largest recipient of the dividend, at RUB282.5bn, will be the state (50% plus one share in Sberbank).

The dividend decision came on the same day as President Vladimir Putin urged businesses to be "patriotic" in his anticipated televised address at the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).