Translated material
Launched the factory
Sberbank expects retail loan portfolio growth by 10-15%
As Sberbank President German Gref said yesterday, Sberbank expects the retail loan portfolio to grow by 10-15% in 2010, and the corporate loan portfolio by 5-8%. These results will be achieved through the Loan Factory accelerated lending strategy. However, the sector leader will not be able to achieve real success until next year, experts believe.Since the beginning of 2010, the portfolio of loans to corporate clients of Sberbank has decreased by 1.8%, to RUB 4.172 trillion. In July, the corporate portfolio grew by 0.8%. The portfolio has been growing since May 2010. Sberbank's retail loan portfolio for seven months of 2010 increased by 4%, or by 47 billion rubles, and amounted to 1.216 trillion rubles. Steady growth in retail lending volumes has been observed since March. In July, the portfolio increased by 1.2%, or 15 billion rubles.
According to Mr. Gref, from September 1, Sberbank completely switched to operating mode using the new “Credit Factory” technology throughout the country. He explained that if previously the period for issuing any product was two weeks, now any loan with the exception of a mortgage can be obtained in 30 hours. For corporate clients the period is 44 hours.
If the forecasts are correct, then Sberbank's performance will approximately coincide with the results of the sector as a whole. Earlier, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Alexey Ulyukaev reported that the growth of the loan portfolio of Russian banks in nominal terms will be about 10% this year.
However, experts believe that it is too early to count on success. “It is difficult to predict what kind of situation will develop in the second half of the year,” notes the head of the retail department of a private Russian bank. -- There is no doubt that Sberbank and other state banks will not lack funds to increase their loan portfolio. However, it is not a fact that the demand for loans will increase. In particular, it cannot be said that consumer activity of citizens is growing at a steady pace. In addition, Sberbank is unlikely to abandon its conservative strategy, and requirements for clients will remain quite stringent, which may also restrain portfolio growth.”
“There is a gradual trend towards recovery in the banking sector, but truly positive margin dynamics, strong lending growth and the restoration of accrued reserves will apparently not fully manifest themselves until next year,” analysts at Troika Dialog Investment Company believe. -- In the short term, we see no obvious reasons for optimism. In mid-August, Sberbank decided to significantly reduce rates (by approximately 50-150 basis points) on almost all of its products, both loans and deposits. This indicates that demand for corporate loans is still low, and banks have a very significant amount of liquidity, which ensures an influx of deposits.”
This week, Sberbank again postponed the launch of the program for issuing GDRs on the London Stock Exchange. According to Infina FC analyst Veronika Chekina, Sberbank’s decision to once again postpone the launch of the long-suffering program of depositary receipts is connected not so much with the unstable situation in the international financial markets, but with the fact that recently plans to privatize state-owned stakes in the largest Russian banks have become increasingly popular , primarily Sberbank and VTB. “We believe that in 2011, it makes no sense for investors to hope for the launch of the GDR program, but in the long term, the idea of bringing Sberbank shares to foreign trading platforms will continue to remain a juicy carrot for investors and a driver of growth in the bank’s share prices,” -- notes the analyst.