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By Alexander Kolyandr
MOSCOW--State-controlled Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, said first-quarter profit fell 18%, as it became the latest of Russia's major banks to suffer the widening economic impact of the crisis over Ukraine.
"The first quarter was challenging for all of us due to the macroeconomic challenges around the world and a slowdown in Russia, partly driven by the events in Ukraine," said deputy Chief Executive Alexander Morozov.
He added that if political situation in Ukraine doesn't deteriorate further, "the worst is over," as Sunday's presidential elections there have brought some stability to the volatile situation there.
The crisis, which has led to U.S. and European sanctions against Russia, has pushed the country's already-slowing economy to the verge of recession.
Earlier this week, state-controlled VTB Group, the country's No. 2 lender, said profit dropped 98% in the first quarter. It put the cost of the Ukraine crisis at 18 billion rubles ($519 million), including high loan-loss reserves, losses on Ukrainian securities and currency moves.
Sberbank, meanwhile, declined to estimate its losses from Ukraine, but analysts said its exposure there was smaller than VTB's. Overall, total losses in Ukraine for Russia's biggest banks in the first quarter could be as much as $1 billion, according to Natalia Berezina, analyst at Moscow-based UralSib brokerage.
Several smaller Russian banks have also been hit by the Western sanctions, but they don't report financial results publicly. They have seen substantial outflows of deposits, in some cases requiring support from the central bank.
Sberbank said the main reason for the weaker first-quarter results was a big jump in loan-loss provisions and currency losses. Net profit fell to 73.4 billion rubles ($2.1 billion) from 88.6 billion rubles a year earlier.
The bank said its net provisioning for loan impairments more than doubled to 77.1 billion rubles from 31.8 billion rubles in the first quarter of last year.
"Negative developments in Ukraine could adversely impact results and financial position of the (bank) in a manner not currently determinable, " Sberbank said.
Still, "Sberbank managed to hedge against market risks quite successfully,' said Gazprombank in a research note.
Sberbank share closed up 0.9% on Thursday, underperforming the wider index which gained 1.5%.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/russias-sberbank-profit-hit-by-ukraine-crisis-2014-05-29
