MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. The volume of corporate funds in Russian banks in September 2023 increased by 332 bln rubles ($3.46 bln) or 0.7%, while the growth of household funds in September slightly accelerated compared to August - to 1% from 0.8%, according to the Bank of Russia materials.
"The funds of enterprises increased in September by 332 bln rubles (+0.7%), mainly in the oil and gas, metallurgical and power industries. The growth of household funds in September slightly accelerated in comparison with August, increasing from 0.8% to 1.0%," the regulator said.
The population's foreign currency funds fell by $0.9 bln (-2.1%). This, according to the Bank of Russia, could be due to a desire to convert currency into rubles at a high rate.
According to the regulator, the net profit of the Russian banking sector for the first nine months of 2023 reached 2.7 trillion rubles ($28.13 bln) and in September credit institutions earned 296 bln rubles ($3.09 bln).
"The sector has earned 2.7 trillion rubles since the beginning of the year, but 0.6 trillion rubles was due to currency revaluation. The sector's net profit in September was 296 bln rubles (annual return on equity of around 26%), 16% lower than the August figure (353 bln rubles), owing primarily to a decrease in revenue from currency revaluation (to 8 bln rubles from 106 bln rubles in August)," the regulator said.
The number of profitable banks, according to the regulator, decreased slightly compared to August (248 or 77% of the total, in August 263 and 81%, respectively). At the end of nine months of 2023, there were 282 such banks (87%) with a 99% share of sector assets.
In early September, Sberbank reported a record profit for the eight months of 2023 according to Russian accounting standards in the amount of 999 bln rubles ($10.46 bln).
Earlier, the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, stated that the profit of Russian banks at the end of 2023 could reach up to 3 trillion rubles ($31.4 bln). According to the Bank of Russia, the profit of the Russian banking sector for the eight months of 2023 reached 2.4 trillion rubles ($25.12 bln), which corresponds to the results of the entire 2021.