Sberbank sees positive effect from CBR rate hike, trying to reduce it to zero - CFO

MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - The positive effect from the increase of the Central Bank of Russia's (CBR) key interest rate for Sberbank is 18 billion rubles, the leading Russian lender's CFO, Taras Skvortsov said.

"At the moment, we do indeed have a positive sensitivity value, about 18 billion rubles. However, we are now trying to reduce this value to approximately zero. The payment of dividends, among other things, will help reduce the sensitivity," Skvortsov said in a conference call on Monday.

"In general, considering expectations of a decrease in rates, we don't need to hold [sensitivity] at a high positive level. Our whole action plan is aimed at managing this indicator, foremost downward," Skvortsov said.

Sberbank expects the CBR to make one or two rate cuts in 2025 and bring the rate down to 19% from the current 21%.

Skvortsov said that Sberbank's net interest margin is now slightly better than expected; the forecast for 2025 is over 5.6%. "However, going forward there is still potential to not be so optimistic," he added.

The bank's net interest margin to IFRS rose to 6.11% in the first quarter of 2025 from 5.88% in the same period of last year and 6.01% for all of 2024.