Economy
Russia's Sberbank to decide shortly whether to exit Hungary or not - paper
The measures are part of a crisis-management plan of the state-owned bank. The news portal cited a Sberbank official as saying that they intend to create a self-sustaining and profitable group within Europe, party by involving deposit holders. Sberbank’s European subsidiaries hold about RUB 250 billion worth of retail deposits.
Sberbank has operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Czech daily newspaper Lidové Noviny (LN) reported on 23 February that “the new conflict between the West and the Kremlin is forcing the largest bank in Russia to sell its interests in central Europe. We have learned from a few well-informed sources that it plans to sell its Hungarian and Slovakian subsidiaries."
According to the paper, the Slovakian unit would be sold for over EUR 2 bn and the Hungarian arm is to go up for sale for around EUR 1.6 bn.
To LN’s knowledge, there are already several potential bidders lining up for the Slovakian Sberbank unit, including Hungary’s OTP Bank that is already present on that market, and the Czech-Slovakian arm of Italy’s UniCredit, as well as Czech-Slovak Penta financial group.Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, saw its after-tax profit decline significantly this January in annual terms. The profit plummeted to RUB 3.7 bn from RUB 31.6 bn. The results were weighed down by the fact that Sberbank’s provisions for loan impairment totalled RUB 857.3 bn as of 1 Feb, up 5.8%. The bank posted ttotal provision charge of RUB 54.9 bn, versus RUB 28.5 bn a year earlier Its net interest income fell 33.6% to RUB 47.9 bn .
Economic sanctions imposed against Russia over its conflict with Ukraine, uncertainties related to the Ukrainian crisis, the deterioration of the Russian economy and the weakening of the rouble all affected the bank negatively.
Sberbank Chief Executive German Gref said in mid-September last year that the Ukrainian and Hungarian subsidiaries are grappling with certain difficulties.
“Although its economic situation is stable, Hungary has a complicated regulatory environment," he told the Russian press.
In the case of Hungary Sberbank will examine what could be changed on this market, he added.
Sberbank entered the Hungarian market two years ago when it acquired Volksbank’s central and eastern european portfolio for EUR 505 million. Sberbank’s subsidiaries officially operate in Hungary since 1 November 2013.
Sberbank has operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Czech daily newspaper Lidové Noviny (LN) reported on 23 February that “the new conflict between the West and the Kremlin is forcing the largest bank in Russia to sell its interests in central Europe. We have learned from a few well-informed sources that it plans to sell its Hungarian and Slovakian subsidiaries."
According to the paper, the Slovakian unit would be sold for over EUR 2 bn and the Hungarian arm is to go up for sale for around EUR 1.6 bn.
To LN’s knowledge, there are already several potential bidders lining up for the Slovakian Sberbank unit, including Hungary’s OTP Bank that is already present on that market, and the Czech-Slovakian arm of Italy’s UniCredit, as well as Czech-Slovak Penta financial group.Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, saw its after-tax profit decline significantly this January in annual terms. The profit plummeted to RUB 3.7 bn from RUB 31.6 bn. The results were weighed down by the fact that Sberbank’s provisions for loan impairment totalled RUB 857.3 bn as of 1 Feb, up 5.8%. The bank posted ttotal provision charge of RUB 54.9 bn, versus RUB 28.5 bn a year earlier Its net interest income fell 33.6% to RUB 47.9 bn .
Economic sanctions imposed against Russia over its conflict with Ukraine, uncertainties related to the Ukrainian crisis, the deterioration of the Russian economy and the weakening of the rouble all affected the bank negatively.
Sberbank Chief Executive German Gref said in mid-September last year that the Ukrainian and Hungarian subsidiaries are grappling with certain difficulties.
“Although its economic situation is stable, Hungary has a complicated regulatory environment," he told the Russian press.
In the case of Hungary Sberbank will examine what could be changed on this market, he added.
Sberbank entered the Hungarian market two years ago when it acquired Volksbank’s central and eastern european portfolio for EUR 505 million. Sberbank’s subsidiaries officially operate in Hungary since 1 November 2013.
