Business
Russian Sberbank's January-August net profit at 1.1 trillion roubles
Russian Sberbank's January-August net profit at 1.1 trillion roubles
About this update from Sberbank
By Robert Harvey and Elena Fabrichnaya Russia's dominant lender Sberbank recorded a 1.1 trillion rouble ($13.22 billion) net profit in the first eight months of 2025, up 6.4% on the year, the bank said on Tuesday."The beginning of the rate-cutting cycle in the economy led to a slight lending revival in August," chairman of the board and chief executive, German Gref, said.Sberbank's filings under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) for January-August showed a net profit for August of 148.1 billion roubles, up 3.7% on the year.The rise in August came as Sberbank's corporate loan portfolio gained 2.1% in real terms on the month to 28.5 trillion roubles, while retail loans grew by 1.3% to 17.8 trillion roubles. Indeed, Sberbank is on track to exceed last year's net profit, according to bank management forecasts. Alfa Bank analysts expect Sberbank's net profit to increase by 5% in 2025. The mortgage and consumer lending sectors drove the August results, Gref said, with issuance of consumer loans exceeding repayments for the first time in 2025 in August.The quality of Sberbank's total loan portfolio remains stable, Gref said, with the share of its overdue debt holding steady at 2.7%.Sberbank has coped relatively well with high interest rates squeezing lending portfolio growth, with banks set to benefit from interest rates now being lowered.The Russian central bank began cutting its key rates in June to 18% currently, from their highest since the early 2000s last year at 21%. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the central bank to cut its benchmark rate by two percentage points at its next decision on September 12.Sberbank in August completed the payment of a record 786.9 billion rouble dividend for 2024, that came off the back of its record 1.58 trillion rouble net profit in 2024.Sberbank's total number of active retail clients has grown by 400,000 since the start of the year to 110.3 million, the bank said, while its corporate client base grew 3.3% o 3.4 million companies.($1 = 83.2000 roubles)