Russian Saint Petersburg bank posted a net profit of RUB10.4bn for 4Q23 under IFRS, making 22% quarter on quarter growth and a return on equity (ROE) of 24%. Renaissance Capital analysts estimated that profit for 2023 overall amounted to RUB47.3bn, flat year on year and making an ROE of 30%.

In 4Q23, the bank’s loan book grew by 5% quarter on quarter and 26% y/y, while customer funds recovered by 6% q/q to be at end-2022 levels. Net interest and fee and commission income rose to RUB 16bn and RUB 3bn in 4Q23 (+27% and +3% q/q respectively). 

“Given the significant growth of assets in 4Q23, the bank's capital adequacy ratio (N1.0) decreased by 2.0 percentage points to 20.1%, which leaves significant potential for dividend payout in 2H23,” RenCap analysts commented.

The bank's dividend policy assumes distribution of at least 20% of net profit, while the bank has been distributing 30% of net profit in recent years. Given this, the dividend payout could be RUB8.2-12.3 per ordinary share (2.8-4.2% dividend yield to the current share price), the analysts estimated.

In 2023 Bank Saint Petersburg was one of the banks that filed a lawsuit in a Belgian court after its assets were blocked by the Euroclear depository. In September 2022, the bank also filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover RUB10.7bn and €0.49mn from Euroclear. In February 2023, the Russian court ordered Euroclear to recover the money. However, the bank later withdrew its suit in the Russian court.