MOSCOW, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Russia's No. 2 bank VTB on Thursday reported third-quarter net profit of 86.1 billion roubles ($916 million), an increase on the previous, sanctions-hit year, but a lower return than the first two quarters of 2023.
VTB, heavily exposed to international markets and with more than 20% of its loan portfolio in foreign currencies, was particularly hard hit in the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine, as Western sanctions targeted Russia's financial sector.
But Russian banks are proving resilient, reporting higher banking revenues as their cost of risk normalises, and jostling for business from the state, particularly a burgeoning defence budget, and the country's big corporate accounts.
CFO Dmitry Pyanov said VTB was on course to earn at least 420 billion roubles this year, which would be record annual profits for the lender.
VTB said third quarter net interest income totalled 197.9 billion roubles. No comparisons were provided as the central bank ordered banks to limit disclosures last year in the wake of Moscow dispatching troops to Ukraine. ($1 = 93.9955 roubles) (Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow, editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
