Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) RBI has revised its return on equity (ROE) outlook downwards due to higher provisions for Swiss franc loans in Poland. The key figure, which measures profitability in relation to equity, is now expected to be around 7.5 percent without contributions from Russia and Belarus, the bank announced on Tuesday evening. An ROE of around ten percent was previously expected. The RBI put the provisions for mortgage loans in Poland at 493 million euros, with the majority being Swiss franc loans.
In the first three quarters, the financial institution, which operates in several countries in Eastern Europe and Russia, recorded a slight decline in profits. The bottom line is that earnings fell by 1.5 percent to 2.1 billion euros. More than half of the profit was generated in Russia and Belarus, where a total net profit of 1.2 billion euros was achieved. The group’s net interest income rose by almost four percent to 4.4 billion euros, while net commission income fell by twelve percent to 2.1 billion euros. The publication of the quarterly results was originally scheduled for Wednesday.
There was no new information about the planned sale of the Russian subsidiary bank. However, bank boss Johann Strobl emphasized that the winding down of business in Russia had been accelerated: “Customers’ current account deposits fell by 26 percent in the third quarter, and loan volumes fell by 23 percent in the same period. The restrictions on outgoing foreign currency payments were fully implemented.” . Since the second quarter of 2022, customer loans have been reduced by almost 67 percent.
