Sberbank has no plans to bolster provisions on 2020 NPLs – Reuters

Sberbank of Russia does not intend to set aside additional provisions on 2020 bad loans and expects its 2021 financial result to surpass last year's performance, Reuters reported Feb. 16, citing Sberbank CEO Herman Gref.

The executive also noted that the bank still plans to earmark at least 50% of its net profit for dividend payouts.

The state-controlled lender, which is the largest bank in Russia, set aside 541 billion rubles in provisions for bad loans in 2020 and is expected to miss its 1 trillion ruble net profit target for last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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As of Feb. 15, US$1 was equivalent to 73.24 Russian rubles.