MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Russian state-owned lender VTB reported a record annual profit of 432.2 billion roubles ($4.68 billion) in 2023, it said on Tuesday, rebounding from a revised, sanctions-induced loss of 667.5 billion roubles the year before.
VTB Chief Financial Officer Dmitry Pyanov told reporters that the bank was eyeing another record year in 2024, hoping to earn 435 billion roubles.
Last year, Russian banks collectively made record profits of 3.3 trillion roubles, driven by sharp rises in mortgage, consumer and corporate lending even as the central bank jacked up interest rates to their current level of 16%.
VTB CEO Andrei Kostin blamed the bank's 2022 losses on sanctions, acknowledging the blow to Russia's financial sector wrought by sweeping Western restrictions, including depriving many banks of access to the international SWIFT payments system.
($1 = 92.3810 roubles) (Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Sonali Paul)
