OREANDA-NEWS The profit of the Russian banking sector in January - August 2018 decreased by 9.6% and amounted to 901 billion rubles compared to the same period 2017, according to a press release of the Bank of Russia. At the same time, banks' profit for August reached 124 billion rubles, which is 1.7 times more than in August 2017.

The Central Bank noted that the financial result of the sector was significantly influenced by the performance of banks undergoing the procedure of financial recovery with the involvement of the consolidation Fund of the banking sector. Excluding these banks, the profit of the banking sector for eight months amounted to 1.2 trillion rubles, which is 20.4% higher than in January - August last year.

The profit of the banking sector was also affected by the "costs of ensuring the work of credit institutions" - up to 918 billion rubles.

The total volume of Bank loans to the economy (non-financial organizations and individuals) in August increased by 1.5% to 46.6 trillion rubles. According to the regulator, their portfolio of corporate loans (32.7 trillion rubles) showed significant growth (+1.1%). At the same time, the August retail growth (by 2.4%) reached a local maximum. The volume of the retail portfolio as of September 1, 2018 amounted to 13.9 trillion rubles.

In August, deposits decreased by 0.6%, amounting to 27.4 trillion rubles (30.8% of the total liabilities of the banking sector). In January - August, the volume of deposits increased by 2.5%.

The volume of deposits and funds in the accounts of organizations increased by 0.5% to 25.9 trillion rubles. Funds of organizations on current accounts decreased by 2.4% to 9.2 trillion rubles.

The Central Bank sure that the reason for the negative result is the performance of banks undergoing the procedure of financial recovery with the involvement of the consolidation fund of the banking sector.