Sberbank sees a decline in corporate demand for loans

Photo by Sber

Sberbank sees a trend towards a slowdown in the corporate loan portfolio. This was reported by the First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin in an interview with Kommersant Review.

According to him, in December 2024, Sber's corporate portfolio decreased by 1.4% per month (-0.1% excluding currency revaluation). "At the beginning of the year, we observed a continuation of this trend - at the end of January, the corporate portfolio decreased by 0.8% per month (-0.5% excluding currency revaluation)," noted Alexander Vedyakhin. - Our demand for loans has noticeably decreased. And we believe that in February-March, a decrease in the portfolio or growth near zero is also possible. The investment activity of companies has decreased due to the high key rate, but the need for working capital has increased."

In general, the share of overdue debt in the corporate loan portfolio in Russia is decreasing, according to the Central Bank statistics – a twofold decrease over the last five years, noted Alexander Vedyakhin, and Sberbank has the same trend. “The bank has a lot of accumulated experience in resolving difficult situations, focusing primarily on the choice of a credit strategy, not a default strategy,” he emphasized.

"There are no mass requests for restructuring yet, but we do not rule out that they may arise," added Alexander Vedyakhin. "We are ready for this and in the case of isolated cases, decisions are made based on the specifics of the situation. When considering restructuring, Sber also offers a program for hedging interest rate risk."