The top eight positions in the central and eastern European (CEE) ranking have remained unchanged from 2013, with Russian state-owned Sberbank further extending its lead over compatriot VTB Bank. Sberbank increased its Tier 1 capital by $6.46bn to $43.52bn, and climbed one place in the Top 1000 to 33rd. VTB increased its capital base by 20.54% to $21.91bn.
Philip Alexander reports on the full results of The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking 2014, in the story Top 1000 World Banks 2014: Back on track?
Russia dominates the top 25 table and has four players in the highest movers table. Russian credit card specialist Tinkoff saw its capital increase by 307.45% after it went public through a $1.1bn initial public offering in London in October 2013. Tinkoff’s $612m of Tier 1 capital is too small for it to rank in the regional Top 25, but it is the only true new CEE entrant in the ranking – the other banks in this list did not feature in the 2013 ranking because they did not supply data before the deadline – and it leads the table of highest return on capital in CEE.
Poland’s state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) has made the second largest percentage gains in Tier 1 capital in CEE. This allows BGK to enter the top 25 CEE ranking in ninth position, and leap up to 348th in the Top 1000, from last year’s 784th position. This boost comes after capital enhancement exercises at the bank, including the sale of its 10.25% stake in CEE's fifth largest lender, PKO Bank Polski. BGK’s capital has increased by 291.78%, making it the second highest mover in CEE after Tinkoff Credit Systems.
Otkritie Financial Corporation, which transformed its investment bank through the reverse takeover of Nomos Bank, enters the top 25 at number 15, with $1.95bn of Tier 1 capital. This is less than Nomos’s $2.42bn in 2013, which made it last year’s ninth largest bank in CEE.
Last year’s 23rd ranked Bank Petrocommerce also exited the top 25 rankings after a 37.9% drop in capital to $587m and pre-tax loss of $333.14m, which leaves the bank in 850th position globally. Russia's Standard Bank saw its capital rise by 28.71% to $850m and entered the regional ranking in 25th position. Otkritie is in the process of acquiring Bank Petrocommerce.
