VTB cuts forecast for corporate lending growth in 2017 to 3%

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (PRIME) -- Russia’s second largest bank VTB has reduced its 2017 crediting forecast for all local banks to 3% from 6%, VTB CFO Herbert Moos said in a conference call on Thursday.

The bank also expects retail crediting to expand about 10% in 2017.

“We are ready to revise our market growth estimates. We expect that from the point of view of the market, the market of corporate lending will grow slower than we expected before. We expect the market of corporate lending to grow no more than 3% in 2017,” he said, adding that VTB expects its corporate loan portfolio to expand at the same dynamics.

“We expect that the market (of retail lending) will show an increase of about 10%...and the VTB Group will show growth of significantly more than 10% in 2017. We will definitely grow faster than the market here.”

VTB said its corporate loan portfolio shrank by 1.5% in January–September to 7.2 trillion rubles as of September 30, while the portfolio of retail loans gained 11.5% to 2.426 trillion rubles.

(59.2480 rubles – U.S. $1)

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