Lending growth remains high in April
Corporate lending continued to grow quickly (+1.9% in April vs +1.8% in March). Developers accounted for around a third of the increase. In addition, a significant amount of loans was issued to companies from a number of sectors to complete the investment projects that had been started previously, among other things, and to the service providers under state contracts.
According to preliminary data, growth in the mortgage portfolio accelerated to 1.4% vs 1.2% in March, mostly due to the decrease in the number of loans repaid early, whereas the rise in the amount of new loans granted was not so significant. Around 75% of loans were issued as part of the government programmes. According to preliminary estimates, consumer lending continued to surge (growth remained at the March level of 1.8%).
Households continued to actively deposit their funds with banks (+2.1% vs +1.9% in March). Mainly ruble-denominated time deposits were growing. Such deposits remain popular owing to high rates. The amount of corporate funds soared (+5.0%) after an outflow in March (-1.6%). However, this increase was temporary and related to the shift of the tax payment period from late April to early May.
The sector’s profit totalled ₽305 billion in April, (return on capital — 24.5% in annualised terms), which is 13% higher than the March results (₽270 billion, 22%). The rise in the profit was due to the decline in provisioning after large additional loss provisions had been made in March.
More details are available in the information and analytical material Russian Banking Sector Development in April 2024.
