Moody’s says Sberbank’s profitability to improve further

MOSCOW, Apr 6 (PRIME) -- The profitability of Russian national top lender Sberbank will continue growing over the next 12–18 months as the operating environment recovers and new lending will soon start to pick up, Moody’s Investors Services said in a report Thursday.

The bank’s relative profitability metrics were double the averages for the sector over the 2014-2016 banking downturn in Russia, and are likely to improve further as the Russian economy returns to growth, Moody’s said.

“Sberbank has outperformed its sector peers in recent years and we expect the gap to be sustained over the next 12 to 18 months as the bank leverages its superior revenue generation, declining credit costs, and cost advantage,” Olga Ulyanova, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s, said. “We expect Sberbank’s net interest margin to remain more than 100 basis points higher than the sector average in 2017 and 2018.”

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