Russia's VTB Bank seeks higher MOEX index weighting, as net profits fall

By Elena Fabrichnaya and Robert Harvey

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's VTB will apply to increase its weighting in the MOEX Russia Index following a $1 billion secondary public offering in September, the state-controlled lender said on Friday, as it announced net profit fell in January-August.

"The weight in the index is currently 1%, and we expect a multiple increase in the share in the index," CFO Dmitry Pyanov told reporters.

The MOEX Russia index will next be rebalanced in November, with details to be published on December 1-5.

INDEX SHARE BOOST

A higher weighting typically increases demand for an equity among funds whose portfolios are linked to the index.

VTB can expect a revision to reflect a sharp increase in free float following last week's additional share sale, which aimed to raise up to 84.7 billion roubles ($1.01 billion).

Pyanov said VTB's free float is more than 49% following the issue, with the Russian state's share dropping to the minimum permitted level of 50% plus one share.

EIGHT MONTH RESULTS

VTB's IFRS financial results for the first eight months of 2025 showed a 3.2% drop in net profit to 327.6 billion roubles ($3.92 billion).

The fall was driven by a 41.4% tumble in net interest income during the January-August period, to 221.7 billion roubles. That reflected pressure on its net interest margin, which declined to 1.3% in August and 1% for the year to August from 1.9% and 2% respectively for the same periods in 2024.

Faced with a drop in net interest income, which has traditionally driven profits, VTB said recently it would switch focus to scaling up income from commissions from servicing foreign trade.

VTB has forecast a net profit of 500 billion roubles in 2025, implying a return on equity of 18%. That would be less than last year's profit of roughly 550 billion roubles.

($1 = 83.5000 roubles)

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Robert Harvey; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Edwina Gibbs and Catherine Evans)