Russia’s largest state-controlled bank Sberbank (Sber) posted RUB1.13 trillion ($11.3bn) net Russian Accounting Standard (RAS) profit in 9M23, with RUB130bn bottom line in September alone, Kommersant daily reported citing the bank. 

Previously the Finance Ministry forecasted Sber's profit at RUB1.5 trillion in 2023, aiming to collect RUB375bn from RUB750bn in total dividends from the bank. 

As followed by bne IntelliNews, Sberbank posted a RUB357bn ($4.5bn) net profit under IFRS in 1Q23 and RUB737.5bn ($7.9bn) in 1H23. 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.

As of end of September 2023, Sber's return on equity, according to reports, stood at 25%, the cost of risk (COR) at 1.4%, and the ratio of operating income to expenses (CIR) at 22.7%.

The bank's retail loan portfolio grew by 3.6% month on month to RUB884mn, while in 9M23 it jumped by 22.5% to RUB14.7 trillion. The corporate loan portfolio totalled RUB22.7 trillion and grew by 2.8%, with over RUB2 trillion of corporate loans issued in September. The share of overdue loans remained at the level of 2%.

The bank's net interest income since the beginning of the year increased by 38.1% to RUB1.7 trillion. In September, it stood at RUB206.8mn, up 25.6% y/y. Individual deposits climbed by 1.9% in September, exceeding RUB21 trillion, while corporate deposits were down by 1% m/m to just over RUB10 trillion. The number of retail customers totalled 107.6mn, up by 1.2mn people year to date. The number of active corporate clients stood at 3.1mn.

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

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

The 2022 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).

The analysts surveyed by RBC business portal previously believed that Sber was helping the government out with the unprecedented fiscal squeeze and expect this to be a signal to other large state-owned enterprises (SOEs such as Gazprom Neft, Gazprom, Transneft, Rosneft and others).