Gazprombank releases financial results for 9M 2018, with net income at RUB 41.5 bn in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Moscow, November, 29, 2018 - Gazprombank (Joint Stock Company) (hereinafter, Bank GPB (JSC) or the Bank) has published consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the nine months of 2018 and as of 30 September 2018.

  “The positive dynamics of the Bank’s key indicators during  9 months of 2018, including its net income growth by 26.1% year-on-year, the build-up of principal volume indicators, despite the heightened volatility in financial markets and the on-going transformation of the Bank’s processes model, makes it possible to expect its planned results to be delivered at year-end 2018 and the Group’s volumes and performance to grow further,” Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Mr. Alexander Sobol, said.

 Bank GPB (JSC) key financial indicators for 9M 2018 / as at 30 September 2018 [1]:

• Net income totaled RUB 41.5 bn compared to RUB 32.9 bn for 9M 2017;
• ROE and ROA stood at 9.7% and 0.9%, respectively, compared to 6.2% and 0.6% for 2017;
• Net interest margin comprised 2.9% compared to 3.1% in 2017;
• Net commission income amounted to RUB 13.7 bn compared to RUB 10.9 bn for 9M 2017;
• Cost of Risk stood at 0.03% (0.4% with due regard to the adjustment of loans accounted at fair value) compared to 0.6% in 2017;
• Cost-to-income ratio reached 57.4% compared to 49.5% in 2017.
• Assets increased to RUB 6,213.7 bn compared to RUB 5,509.9 bn as at 1 January 2018;
• The total loan portfolio [2] amounted to RUB 4,126.7 bn compared to RUB 3,745.8 bn as at 01 January 2018;
• The share of non-performing loans (NPL) (overdue 90+ days and defaulted loans) in the total loan portfolio  was 2.4% compared to 2.5% as at 01 January 2018;
• The provisioning ratio amounted to  4.9% compared to 5.3% as at 1 January 2018;
• Customer accounts comprised RUB 4,444.9 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 3 915.4 bn as at 01 January 2018, while the loans-to-deposit ratio was down from 95.7% to 92.8%  in 9M 2018;
• Basel I total capital comprised RUB 715.7 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 665.6 bn as at 01 January 2018, the total capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.7% as at the reporting date, the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio was at 10.8%.

The key financial indicators are presented below:

	30 September 2018	01 January 2018	% change
Assets	6,213.7	5,509.9	+12.8%
Shareholders’ equity	607.1	552.6	+9.9%
Cash and cash equivalents	966.0	649.0	+48.9%
Loans to corporate customers	3,644.4	3,356.7	+8.6%
Retail loans	482.3	389.1	+23.9%
Securities [3]	656.6	672.8	-2.4%
Corporate customer accounts	3,527.3	3,072.6	+14.8%
Retail customer accounts	917.6	842.9	+8.9%
Capital borrowings [4]	373.3	339.6	+9.9%
Subordinated debt	182.4	164.5	+10.9%

	9M 2018	9M 2017	Change
Net income	41.5	32.9	+26.1%
Comprehensive income	43.4	33.7	+28.6%

	30 September 2018 / 9M 2018	01 January 2018	31 December 2017 / 2017*	Change
Total Capital Adequacy Ratio [5]	13.7%	12.6%		+1.1 p.p.
Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Ratio	10.8%	9.8%		+1.0 p.p.
Non-performing loans [6] (NPL) % of gross loans	2.4%	2.5%		-0.1 p.p.
Allowance for impairment to gross loans accounted at amortized cost	4.9%	5.3%		-0.4 p.p.
Loans-to-deposit ratio	92.8%	95.7%		-2.9 p.p.
ROE	9.7%		6.2%	+3.5 p.p.
ROA	0.9%		0.6%	+0.3 p.p.
Net Interest Margin [7]	2.9%		3.1%	-0.2 p.p.
Cost of risk [8]	0.03%		0.6%	-0.6 p.p.
Cost of risk adjusted for revaluation [9]	0.4%			- 0.2 p.p.
Cost to income ratio [10]	57.4%		49.5%	+7.9 p.p.

* Without adjustments as per IFRS 9 and IFRS 15

Financial results

For 9M 2018, the Group recorded its net income of RUB 41.5 bn and the comprehensive income of RUB 43.4 bn. By comparison, in 9M 2017 the Group’s net income and its comprehensive income amounted to RUB 32.9 bn and RUB 33.7 bn, respectively. The Group’s ROE was up by 3.5 p.p. at 9.7% in 9M 2018 due to both higher generated income and a negative accounting effect on capital from Group’s transition to IFRS 9 and dividends payment for 2017. ROA increased by 0.3 p.p. to 0.9% in 9M 2018 compared to 0.6% as at year-end 2017. 

The Group’s net interest income reached RUB 103.9 bn in 9M 2018, which is 6.2% higher than the indicator for 9M 2017  (RUB 97.8 bn), with interest income remaining almost unchanged  at RUB 273.8 bn against the same income for 9M 2017, whereas interest expenses were down by 3.6% to RUB 169.9 bn. The net interest margin in 9M 2018 was down by 0.2 p.p.  to 2.9% compared to the 2017 indicator. 

The Group’s recurring core banking income, including net interest income (before loan loss provisions and net commission income) reached RUB 117.5 bn for 9M 2018 − up 8.2% compared to RUB  108.6 bn for 9M 2017. The net commission income in 9M 2018 comprised RUB 13.7 bn − 26.0% higher than in 9M 2017 (RUB 10.9 bn). 

Combined income from transactions in securities [11]  in 9M 2018 totalled RUB 1.3 bn compared to RUB 7.9 bn in 9M 2017. 

The recurring income accounted for 98.5% in the Group’s operating income against 97.3% in 9M 2017.

Non-banking segments recorded the operating profit of RUB 3.9 bn in 9M 2018 compared to RUB 1.4 bn for 9M 2017. 

The abovementioned developments were factored into the Group’s operating income (before loan losses provisions and asset impairment provisions) of RUB 119.2 bn in 9M 2018 compared to RUB 111.6 bn in 9M 2017 (6.8% up).

Operating expenses reached RUB 68.4 bn in 9M 2018 compared to RUB 54.4 bn in 9M 2017. The cost-to-income ratio increased by 7.9 p.p. compared to 2017 − from 49.5% to 57.4%. The growth of expenses was driven by the implementation of the Bank’s retail business development strategy, and the resolution of various innovative tasks facing the Bank at the time of technological transformation, including the launch of some digital projects for business development and performance improvement. Thus, as part of Finopolis, the forum of innovative financial technologies held in Sochi, the Bank and a number of other financial institutions signed a memorandum of cooperation with Moscow Exchange to jointly develop the Marketplace project. This project is to enable individuals in all parts of the world to see online what Russian financial institutions can offer and purchase their financial products. By tradition, the Bank also puts great emphasis on personnel development. According to surveys by finparty.ru and banki.ru, published in October 2018, Gazprombank ranked first as of 01 July 2018 among 50 major Russian banks for training expenses per employee.

Assets quality

Loan loss provisions totalled RUB 1.1 bn in 9M 2018 compared to RUB 14.5 bn for 9M 2017, in particular 2Q and 3Q 2018 saw the creation of loan loss provisions totalling 2.3 bn following 1.2 bn recovery in 1Q 2018 due to the repayment of several major loans. The Group’s cost of risk was at  0.03% in 9M 2018 or, including the fair value adjustment of loans accounted at fair value − 0.4% compared to 0.6% at year-end 2017. The negative fair value adjustment of the loans and receivables accounted at fair value reached RUB 12.0 bn in 9M 2018, which is due to a change in both the borrowers’ creditworthiness and market parameters included in asset valuation models.

NPLs (non-performing loans) in the gross loan book accounted for 2.4% in 9M 2018 − 0.1 p.p. down compared to the indicator at the start of the year.  The provisioning ratio (total loan loss allowance to the portfolio of loans accounted at amortized cost) was 4.9% as at 30 September 2018 compared to 5.3% at the start of 2018. At the same time, the loan loss provisions created as at 30 September 2018 and at the start of 2018 exceeded NPLs 2.0 times.

Business volumes

The Group’s total assets reached RUB 6,213.7 bn as at 30 September 2018, up  12.8% compared to RUB 5 509.9 bn as at 01 January 2018. 

In particular, cash and cash equivalents amounted to RUB 966.0 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 649.0 bn as at 01 January 2018. The increase in the balances of cash and cash equivalents was driven by investment of customer funds in highly liquid assets.

The gross loan book before loan loss provisions was RUB 4,126.7 as at 30 September 2018 – up 10.2%  against RUB 3 745.8 bn as at 01 January 2018. The gross loan book accounted for 63.2% of the Group’s total assets compared to 64.5% at the start of the year.

Corporate loans were up by 8.6% from the start of the year at 3,644.4 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 3 356.7 bn as at 01 January 2018. Retail loans continued to grow strongly, with their volume up by 23.9% in 9M 2018 from RUB 389.1 bn as at 01 January 2018 to RUB 482.3 bn as at 30 September 2018, including 3Q 2018 incremental growth of 6.9%. Retail loans accounted for 11.7% of the gross loan book as at 30 September 2018, with their share up 1.3 p.p. in 9M2018. Mortgage loans form the bulk of Group retail loans, accounting for 69.4% both as at 30 September and at the start of 2018. The 9M 2018 results upgraded the Bank to the top three Russian banks for mortgage loans disbursement (according to дом.рф and Frank Research Group consulting company rating). Mortgage loans disbursed by the Bank from 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2018 totaled RUB 108.4 bn – 4.8% market share. To deliver such high results, the Bank embarked on a few moves, including a change in the terms of mortgage lending programmes and an electronic registration of mortgage transactions, which boosted up online mortgage loan applications. 

The Group’s securities portfolio was at RUB 656.6 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 672.8 bn as at 01 January 2018.  Securities share in the Group’s assets was down by 1.6 p.p. in 9M 2018 at 10.6% as at the reporting date compared to 12.2% at the start of the year. The structure of the Group’s securities portfolio mostly consists of fixed income instruments such as investments in Russian government debt, bonds and promissory notes of Russian issuers. However, the share of debt securities has been declining, with 5.7 p.p. reduction in 9M 2018 to 67.4% compared to 73.1% at the start of 2018, whereas the share of equity instruments was up accordingly, due to the repayment of some debt instruments and a rise in equity investments. Thus, as part of its technological transformation, the Bank established a joint venture with PJSC MegaFon, State Corporation Rostec and USM Holdings in 1H2018 aimed to develop digital services and implement digital economy projects. 

The funds of banks amounted to RUB 398.7 bn as at 30 September 2018, up 29.8% compared to RUB 307.2 bn at year-end 2017 mostly due to the placement of short-term funds of correspondent banks in the current accounts and deposits of the Bank. These made it possible to increase the share of bank funds from 6.2% to 7.1% in the liabilities for 9M 2018.  

Corporate and retail deposits grew 13.5% in 9M 2018 to RUB 4,444.9 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 3 915.4 bn at year-end 2017. In particular, corporate deposits reached RUB 3,527.3 bn as at 30 September 2018 − up 14.8% from the start of the year primarily due to the growing funds of state-run companies in Group accounts. Retail deposits and accounts were up 8.9% at RUB 917.6 bn in 9M 2918, following the 2017 growth rate of 24.3%. 

Customer deposits in Group liabilities accounted for 79.3% in 9M 2018, which is 0.3% higher than the indicator at year-end 2017.

Capital borrowings, including Eurobonds and local bonds, stood at RUB 373.3 bn as at 30 September 2018 compared to RUB 339.6 bn at year-end 2017. In 9M 2018, RUB 5.0 bn bonds issued in 2015 were redeemed and RUB 20.0 bn bonds maturing in 2023 were placed. As a whole, capital borrowings in the resource base declined in 9M2018 from 6.8% to 6.7%. 

Capital adequacy

The Group’s Basel I total capital based on consolidated IFRS financials amounted to RUB 715.7 as at 30 September 2018, up 7.5% in 9M 2018 compared to RUB 665.6 bn as at 01 January 2018. In 2018, the Group obtained funding from Gazprom Group in perpetual subordinated non-interest bearing deposits totalling RUB 15.5 bn and accounted as a portion of Tier 1 capital for the purposes of capital adequacy ratios’ calculation. Also, RUB 20 bn subordinated perpetual bonds were issued in August 2018. The bonds do not set a maturity date; the issuer’s call option is envisaged in 5.5 years from the placement date and later at the date of each coupon payment. The Bank of Russia approved the inclusion of the said perpetual bonds in the additional capital when capital adequacy is calculated in accordance with national rules. The Group’s risk weighted assets were down by 1.0% in 9M 2018. Hence, the Group’s capital adequacy indicators as at 30 September 2018 were: the Group’s total capital adequacy ratio at 13.7% (compared to 12.6% at the start of 2018); the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio at 10.8% (compared to 9.8% at the start of 2018).