Russia's VTB expects operational income at $26 billion in 2026

By Elena Fabrichnaya

MOSCOW, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Russia's second-largest bank VTB expects its operational income to soar to 2 trillion roubles ($26 billion) in 2026, as anticipated interest rate cuts fuel lending growth, Deputy CEO Dmitry Pyanov told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We have long become trillionaires in terms of operational income. And we are moving by leaps and bounds towards 2 trillion in income by 2026," Pyanov said on the sidelines of an investment conference hosted by the bank.   

VTB posted a record net profit of 551 billion roubles in 2024, with operational income above 1 trillion. In 2025, VTB expects its net profit to fall by 9% to 500 billion roubles. 

Pyanov blamed record high interest rates, which the central bank had hiked to 21% in October 2024 to fight inflation, for the fall in profit this year. The average key interest rate was at 19.2% in 2025, up from 17.5% in 2024. 

"These two additional percentage points reduced our profit in 2025 compared to 2024," Pyanov said, stressing that the bank's net interest margin is tracking the interest rate cuts. He sees the average key interest rate at 15% in 2026    

Pyanov said that VTB stock will also benefit from the rate-cutting cycle through an expected rise in the stock market as rouble deposits become less attractive and investors will start buying shares. 

($1 = 77.5000 roubles)

(Writing by Gleb Bryanski, Editing by Louise Heavens)