In terms of placings at least, it is business as usual in the upper tiers of central and eastern European banking, with the top five institutions, for the most part, unchanged from last year’s ranking. However, Tier 1 capital is generally down from last year’s figures, in some cases significantly.
In the top spot, Sberbank saw the figure fall to $26.86bn from $29.46bn in 2011. Meanwhile, second placed VTB Bank saw a drop from $17.95bn to $13.07bn. In both cases, this fall was accompanied by a slide down the overall Top 1000 ranking from 40 to 49 and 67 to 88, respectively.
Russian bank results, however, have been affected by a difference in calculation method from 2011, whereby all current year's profits are excluded from their Tier 1 capital. Gazprombank, PKO Bank Polski and OTP Bank also saw a fall in overall Top 1000 position, with Russian Agriculture Bank the only member of the highest ranked quintet to improve its standing.
It is a trend reflected more broadly in the region, as the barrier to entry to the regional top 25 has fallen from 661st in 2011 to 735th this year.
Unsurprisingly, Russian banks once again dominate the top tier of firms, and as was the case last year, also enjoyed a strong showing among the highest movers, taking six of the top 10 spots. However, the highest movers were relegated to lower reaches of the overall ranking for the most part, with only four out of the 10 highest movers (three Russian and one Ukranian) making an appearance in the regional top 25.
Belagroprombank dropped 10 places to 19th, and 325th to 507th globally, possibly as a result of a 56% devaluation of the Belarusian rouble in May of 2011, which would naturally damage the country’s banking standings because The Banker's Top 1000 is calculated in dollars. Nevertheless, its state-owned peer Belarusbank actually improved its standing and Tier 1 capital.
Sviaz Bank exited the top 25 after a fall from 661st to 801st globally. Omitted from the 2012 ranking is Alexander Lebedev’s National Reserve Bank, as well as Ak Bars Bank – recently the subject of a downgrade by Fitch Ratings amid concerns over its capitalisation. In both cases data was not available. State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine, last year’s biggest mover, we now track as Ukreximbank.
New entrants to the regional top table include a trio of Russian banks in the shape of Credit Bank of Moscow, Russian Standard Bank and Bank of Khanty-Mansiysk alongside Getin Noble Bank, which as a result of the merger of Polish entrepreneur Leszek Carnecki’s Getin and Noble banking operations, was a new entrant at 926 last year, and has now reached 603rd. The bank was excluded from the regional highest movers, however, as only unconsolidated data was submitted last year.
