Ukrainian solvent banks in 2018 saw UAH 21.7 billion of net profit compared with UAH 26.5 billion of net loss a year ago, according to a posting on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). According to the central bank, the recovery of the profitability of the banking system has become possible thanks to the reduction of sending funds to reserves with a steady increase in interest and commission fee income.
“The amount of payments to reserves more than halved, to UAH 23.7 billion in 2018 from UAH 49.2 billion in 2017. At the same time, the net interest and commission fee income of the banking system increased by an average of 38%,” the NBU said.
At the same time, the National Bank said that the main interest income, as before, is generated by corporate loans – 46% of the total amount, while investment in securities provided 27% of interest income, and retail loans – 26%.
Commission fee incomes increased against the background of the development of cash settlement and other related lending payments, to 25% in the structure of all revenues.
“After 2014-2017 unprofitable for the banking system, profit of banks in 2018 is the largest on the historical horizon. It became possible thanks to the intensification of lending, primarily retail in national currency, which increased by more than 30%. In addition, the decline in interest rates on deposits of individuals during most of the year and a significant reduction in allocations to reserves contributed to profitability of the banking sector. We expect that the year 2019 will also be successful as lending will continue growing,” First Deputy NBU Governor Kateryna Rozhkova said.
The NBU also reported that out of 77 banks operating on January 1, 2019, 64 banks posted UAH 34.4 billion of net profit. At the end of 2017, 64 out of 82 banks operating at that time were profitable.
The most profitable in 2018 were banks with foreign capital (UAH 15 billion profit for the year) and PrivatBank (UAH 11.7 billion). The main loss was generated by banks with public Russian capital (a UAH 11 billion loss).
According to the National Bank, the last time the banking system was profitable in 2013, when its profit amounted to UAH 1.4 billion. Then, in 2014, Ukrainian banks saw a net loss of UAH 33.1 billion, in 2015 a net loss of UAH 66.6 billion, in 2016 a net loss of UAH 159.4 billion and in 2017 UAH 26.5 billion.
National energy company Ukrenergo saw UAH 2.5 billion in net profit in 2018, which is 1.4 times more than in 2017 (UAH 1.75 billion), Ukrenergo CEO Vsevolod Kovalchuk said at the presentation entitled “10 Steps Towards Europe” late on Thursday.
He said that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin of Ukrenergo last year was 58.2%.
In addition, Ukrenergo paid UAH 1.3 billion of taxes to the national budget.
As reported, Ukrenergo in 2017 cut its net profit by 42% or UAH 1.264 billion compared with 2016, to UAH 1.748 billion.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate transmission lines, as well as centralized dispatching of the country’s integrated power grids. It is a state-owned enterprise, but it will be transformed into a private joint-stock company soon.
PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) saw a 13.9% rise in net profit or by UAH 619.353 million in 2018, to UAH 5.088 billion, the bank has reported on its website. As reported, Raiffeisen Bank Aval in January-September 2018 saw a net profit of UAH 4.071 billion, which is 1% more than in the same period of 2017 (UAH 4.032 billion). The bank’s assets in January-September 2018 increased 7.5%, to UAH 71.246 billion, including loans and customer debt increased 24.3%, to UAH 45.783 billion.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval was founded in 1992. According to its data, on January 1, 2018 Raiffeisen Bank International owned 68.28% of the financial institution, while the EBRD held 30%.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval ranked fifth among 77 operating banks as of December 1, 2018 in terms of assets (UAH 70.003 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
PrivatBank (Kyiv) in 2018 saw UAH 11.7 billion of net profit, Board Chairman Petr Krumphanzl has said.
“2018 was not easy, but we were successful. I think that this figure [profit] is a contribution for the state, because it helps the development of the country, it helps the stability of the financial system, and it helps us to implement the strategy [of the bank’s development] approved by the Ministry of Finance. This is the best result since the economic crisis and the outbreak of war, and I am pleased that today I can name this figure – UAH 11.7 billion,” he said at a briefing in Dnipro on Tuesday.
Profit of Ukrainian banks in January-November 2018 totaled UAH 20 billion, and this is an 11-fold rise year-over-year, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kateryna Rozhkova has said.
“The sector this year will make profit, which can be a record for more than 10 years. And most importantly it is real profit!” she wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday.
According to her, the year is not over yet, so various adjustments are possible, including the expenses on creating reserves, but the growth of interest income by almost 20% and commission income by 25% indicates that the banking sector is gradually but surely recovering.
Rozhkova predicted that in 2019, the sector income will remain high, although high interest rates will put pressure on income of banks.
Ukrainian banks in 2018 would likely to see a record profit in the past 10 years, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kateryna Rozhkova said at a press conference in Kyiv. “By the end of 2018, the sector will see profit and, according to our preliminary estimates, this profit could be a record in more than 10 years,” she said, recalling that for the 10 months of this year, banks posted about UAH 15 billion in net profit. According to Rozhkova, the respective result is due to both an increase in operating profit – interest and commission, and a decrease in sending funds to reserves.
“Interest income continues to be the main source of bank profits against the background of a significant decrease in the cost of borrowed funds over the past few years, cleaning up unproductive assets, as well as enhancing lending,” the first deputy governor of the NBU said.
The growth of commission income, she said, is due to the intensification of consumer lending and the development of banking technology.
In turn, Director of the NBU financial stability department Vitaliy Vavryschuk said that banks, which account for more than 40% of the sector’s assets, are currently operating with a return on capital of more than 30%. “This has never happened in the history of the Ukrainian banking sector,” he said. Moreover, the NBU predicts that the profitability of the banking sector will continue to increase next year, primarily due to the completion of work on cleaning up balance sheets and reducing the amounts sent to reserves. Speaking about the risks of the banking system, Rozhkova noted the short term of the resource base. “Due to significant volumes of high-quality and highly liquid assets on the balance sheet of banks, this situation does not cause concern to the regulator, but given the expected increase in lending next year – these discrepancies in terms of assets and liabilities can carry a risk, and therefore will encourage banks to extend the resource base,” she said.
One of the incentives, according to the first deputy governor of the central bank, is the net stable funding ratio (NSFR), which approval is expected to be finalized by the NBU with banking community in the first half of 2019, after which it will be gradually introduced. According to Vavryschuk, the short term of deposits is mainly the result of the crisis that has passed, after which the share of funds in the current account has significantly increased. “Currently, more than 62% of the total funding of banks is liabilities for up to one month. If you look only at the hryvnia segment, this share is about 76%,” he said. Considering the fact that banks over these short liabilities have long-term assets, the NBU notes the systemic importance of equalizing the terms of assets and liabilities.
“Banks should create more incentives [for extending the term of deposits], perhaps through interest rates. Even a minor extension – up to three from one month, will have a significant fundamental effect on the stability of funding of the banking sector,” Vavryschuk said. In addition, Rozhkova noted the continued high level of dollarization of some banks, especially with Ukrainian private capital, among potential risks.
“Our calculations show that with significant shocks, the risks of these banks are increasing, so we continue to strongly recommend banks to reduce the level of dollarization, especially in the active part of the balance,” Rozhkova said.
The first deputy governor of the NBU also said that in 2019, new stress tests of banks would be held. In addition to the standard approach, the National Bank intends to pay special attention to the quality of consumer loans. In addition, the NBU intends to review the regularity of these tests (now they are held annually).
