Preliminary Results 2023

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) generated a consolidated profit of € 2.386 billion in 2023 and significantly increased its capital ratios.

"RBI once again demonstrated its stability and earnings strength in the 2023 business year. Overall, we can be very satisfied with the past financial year," said RBI CEO Johann Strobl.

Sharp decline in risk costs

At € 393 million, impairment losses on financial assets in the reporting period were significantly lower than the € 949 million reported in the same period of the previous year. At € 191 million (2022: € 743 million), risk provisions in Eastern Europe accounted for the largest share due to the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting risk factors. Thereof, Russia accounted for € 95 million (2022: € 471 million) and Ukraine for € 94 million (2022: € 253 million). Risk provisions at group head office amounted to € 159 million (2022: € 149 million).

Reduction of Russian business continued

RBI continued to reduce its Russian business in the 2023 financial year. Since the second quarter of 2022, the loan volume in Russia has been reduced by 56 per cent. At the end of 2023, it amounted to € 6 billion. In addition, RBI significantly reduced its payment transaction business with Russia and terminated all business relationships with Russian correspondent banks with the exception of its subsidiary Raiffeisenbank. The planned STRABAG transaction would also significantly reduce Raiffeisenbank's equity and thus further reduce RBI's risk from its Russian business.

"The approval process for the STRABAG transaction is on track. We have submitted all the necessary documents to the relevant authorities. We expect the closing to take place in the first quarter of 2024," Strobl continued. 

"At the same time, we are continuing to work on deconsolidating our Russian business, either in the form of a sale or a spin-off," Strobl stated.

CET1 ratio (transitional) of 17.3 per cent

RBI increased its common equity tier 1 ratio to 17.3 per cent in the 2023 financial year. If the Russian subsidiary bank were to be deconsolidated without taking its equity into account, it would have amounted to 14.6 per cent at the end of the year and thus significantly exceeded the regulatory requirements.

"Due to our good capitalization, we want to propose a dividend of € 1.25 per share for 2023 to our shareholders," explained Strobl.

Outlook

The following guidance refers to RBI excluding Russia and Belarus, whereas the corresponding figures in brackets refer to the existing footprint. RBI will continue to progress potential transactions which would result in the sale or spin-off of Raiffeisenbank Russia and deconsolidation of Raiffeisenbank Russia from RBI.

In 2024, net interest income is expected around € 4.0 billion (around € 5.1 billion) and net fee and commission income around € 1.8 billion (around € 2.7 billion).We expect customer loan growth to increase by around 6 per cent (around 5 per cent).We expect general administrative expenses around € 3.3 billion (around € 4.0 billion), resulting in a cost/income ratio of around 52 per cent (around 47 per cent).The provisioning ratio – before use of overlays – is expected to be around 50 basis points (around 60 basis points).The consolidated return on equity is expected to be around 11 per cent (around 12 per cent) in 2024.At year-end 2024 we expect a CET1 ratio of around 14.6 per cent* (around 17.8 per cent).Any decision on dividends will be based on the capital position of the Group excluding Russia.Medium term return on equity and payout ratio targets are suspended due to current uncertainties in Eastern Europe.

* In a ‘P/B Zero‘ Russia deconsolidation scenario, before benefit from STRABAG dividend-in-kind.