Commercial Banks’ Financial Results in Q1-Q3 2019

Sergey A. Zubov – Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In January-September 2019, banks’ profits increased largely as compared to the same period of 2018. It has mainly happened owing to the introduction of the new accounting procedure for loan loss provisions and the handover of rescued banks to the Banking Sector Consolidation Fund. In the near future, some slowdown of the banking sector’s profitability growth can be expected and this will be driven by the following factors: cuts in the interest rates, a higher rate of defaults on loans and the regulator’s moves to slow down the growth rates of consumer lending. However, based on the results of the first three quarters of 2019 it should be taken into account that the ratio between the volume of consumer loans and the volume of deposits (60% against 80%–90% in the EU) is the evidence of the remaining strength of growth in lending to individuals.

Key words: Russian banking sector, profitability of the banking sector, banking profit, consumer loans, the volume of deposits, overdue debt.