Russia’s Central Bank survey shows banking sector profits at record low since 2015

In its survey of the banking sector, Russia’s Central Bank reported that the sector’s 2022 net profits came to 203 billion rubles (roughly equivalent to $2.9 billion). This is nearly 12 times less than the 2021 net profits of 2.4 trillion rubles, as pointed out by RBC. This makes 2022 the Russian banking sector’s worst year since 2015 (when the its net profits comprised only 192 billion rubles).

The Central Bank reports that the sector compensated its 1.5-trillion-ruble losses from the first two quarters, finishing the year with a “modest profit.”

“This result was aided by the gradual return of basic income against the backdrop of lower interest rates and the growth of business in the third and fourth quarters,” says the report.

The sector’s overall profits were largely due to Sberbank’s net profit of 300 billion rubles (or about $4.3 billion), which offset the losses elsewhere in the banking sector.

Overall, this a better result than predicted by the Central Bank itself last November, when Alexander Danilov, head of its analytics and regulation department, said he expected the sector to “break even” after a year of record losses.