Renaissance Capital forecast sales revenue for 2009 at $500 mln, net profit at $130-$200 mln
MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - Renaissance Capital Investment Bank hopes to keep sales revenue for 2009 at the same level posted in 2008, while increasing net profit several times, the bank's chairman and co-owner Steven Jennings said in a interview published in the Russian business daily Vedomosti on Thursday.
Jennings said the bank expects sales revenue for 2009 at around $500 million as it has more or less carried out its annual business plan. According to the bank's estimates, net profit will come to $130 million-$200 million, he said.
For 2008, Renaissance Capital had $500 million in sales revenue and around $50 million in net profit despite posted $66 million in net losses for the fourth quarter of that year after the onset of the economic crisis. In 2007, the bank's net profit totaled $330 million.
Jennings said that the bulk of the bank's revenue had come from operations with fixed income. He said that this type of operation is traditional for the financial sector in times of crisis, adding that this year had perhaps been the most profitable for business tied to debt markets.
The bank's return on equity for this year will come between 15%-20%, up from 7% in the first half, Jennings forecast.
Jennings also said that the Renaissance Capital Investment Bank could also pay high dividends for 2009, adding that the payout is a generally accepted business practice. He said that the bank wants to pay dividends to its shareholders, the size of which will be set by year's end. He added that the bank has now more than enough capital, therefore the payout could be large. Jennings also said that there was no agreement on a dividend payout with Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group, which purchased this past summer 50% of the shares in Renaissance Financial Holdings (the investment bank's parent company).