Russia's Sberbank presents new strategy

Russia's Sberbank sees its annual net profit rising to around 1 trillion rubles ($17 billion) by 2020, according to a strategy plan published on its website.

According to the document, Sberbank’s return on equity, a key measure of profitability, is seen at around 20% - with assets in Turkey performing at 15%, Kazakhstan 23% and the bank’s European units at 3% - by 2020.

"We undertake the commitment - around 1 trillion rubles ($17.06 bln) in terms of profitability in 2020," the head of Sberbank Herman Gref said .

The net profit of Sberbank under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the first 9 months of 2017 increased by 44% year-on-year and amounted to 576.3 bln rubles ($9.82 bln).

Sberbank presented investors in London with a new three-year strategy. At the moment, the group is implementing a five-year strategy, calculated until 2018. The Supervisory Board of Sberbank approved the three-year strategy on December 12.

At the same time, Sberbank approved payment of dividends at the rate of 50% of net profit under the IFRS from 2020. "We will be able to pay dividends of 50% and higher early in 2020, if ... we deliver all our plans," TASS cited Gref as saying.