Sberbank plans to earn 'slightly more' net profit in 2024 than in 2023 - CEO Gref

MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - Sberbank still expects in 2024 to exceed the result for net profit in 2023, CEO Herman Gref said.

"It will not be easy this year, though we intend to earn slightly more than last year," Gref told reporters.

Sberbank boosted net profit 5.2-fold year-on-year to nearly 1.509 trillion rubles to International Financial Reporting Standards in 2023 from 287.8 billion rubles in 2022.

"It is significantly more difficult this year than it was last year for the banking sector owing to tightened regulation. This is because demand for loans has dropped significantly owing to these rates, so interest income will not demonstrate such an impressive result this year, such dynamics as in the previous year. Nevertheless, according to all our estimates, we should be able to earn a greater net profit this year than in the previous year," Gref said.

Sberbank plans on April 26 to publish its IFRS financial statement for the first quarter of 2024.

"We earned 364 billion rubles in net profit to RAS in the three months, growth of 4% compared to the results of 2023. Our group results are always slightly better than those of the PJSC," Gref said.