Russian banks' profits drop 22% m/m to $3 billion in Feb

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian banks' profits fell 22% in February from the month before to 275 billion roubles ($2.97 billion), the central bank said on Tuesday, as corporate, consumer and mortgage lending all grew modestly.

The bank said more than half of banks' corporate loan growth was due to loans to exporters in Chinese yuan, part of a trend that pushed the sector's overall foreign liquidity reserves lower.

Russian banks' profits are set to decline to 2.3-2.8 trillion roubles ($25-$30 billion) this year, the central bank has said, after sharp rises in mortgage, consumer and corporate lending drove the sector to record profits of 3.3 trillion roubles in 2023. ($1 = 92.5250 roubles)

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin Liffey)