Translated material
Gref shaved before the elections
Andrey Kazmin, who is leaving after 11 years at the head of Sberbank , as well as a number of other bank managers, will not vote, since they sold their shares almost immediately after the authorities’ decision to change management. At the same time, today the shareholders of the bank, the controlling stake of which belongs to the Bank of Russia, will vote for the early termination of Mr. Kazmin’s powers. As you know, until the end of this week, applications for the competition to fill the post of head of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Post” continue to be accepted, where Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov recommended that Mr. Kazmin go. The results of the competition will be announced on December 7.
Over the past few years, analysts have been trying to predict how Mr. Gref’s arrival will affect the development of the country’s largest bank. Gref himself, who for several years represented the state on the supervisory board of Sberbank, stated only that he stands for a balanced policy and stable growth of capitalization. However, it is obvious that the first and main test for the ex-minister will be establishing relationships with colleagues. Few people at Sberbank liked the style in which Mr. Kazmin’s resignation was carried out, and the “mail” topic became the subject of bitter jokes.
Sberbank also prepared for German Gref the need to make his first business decision. It is he who will have to determine the timing of the bank’s listing on the London Stock Exchange. Previously it was assumed that this would take place in February 2008. But yesterday, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Alla Aleshkina announced that plans had changed . “Given the situation on the market, including the international market, it is not advisable to do this in February,” Alla Aleshkina, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, said yesterday. In her opinion, investment banks will “show results worse than what we saw.” Therefore, at this stage, the bank will only hold a tender for participants in the transaction and will develop “only mandate clauses,” Ms. Aleshkina explained.
At the end of October, Ms. Aleshkina reported that the listing of global depositary receipts (GDR) in London could be carried out in February 2008. At the same time, the director of the strategic planning department of Sberbank, Dmitry Tarasov, stated that the bank does not plan to carry out an additional issue and repurchase of shares as part of the listing. According to him, technical registration of the GDR program will be carried out and a pool of shareholders will be collected, which could be about 5%.
According to Interfax, during yesterday's telephone conference, Ms. Aleshkina said that the bank's board decided to list in the second quarter of 2008 with financial statements for 2007. “This will happen in the second quarter of 2008, most likely in April,” a conference participant told the agency.
It is expected that Sberbank will be able to surprise investors with good financial performance. According to Alla Aleshkina, net profit under RAS in 2007 is projected at 116-120 billion rubles, and in 2008 - 130 billion rubles. Previously, she said that the bank’s net profit under RAS for the current year would be 112 billion rubles.
Sberbank's net profit according to IFRS for 2007 may amount to 95 billion rubles. According to one of the conference participants, Ms. Aleshkina noted that this is the most pessimistic scenario if this cost estimate is approved. The upper limit of the net profit forecast according to IFRS is 110 billion rubles. At the end of October, Ms. Aleshkina said that Sberbank plans a net profit under IFRS for 2007 of at least 100 billion rubles.