Reserves reduced profits
Moscow Credit Bank posted a net interest loss.
MKB was the only bank publicly reporting IFRS results for the third quarter of 2025 to report a net interest loss. According to its financial statements, this was due to the creation of additional reserves of almost 200 billion rubles. However, thanks to "other income" of approximately the same amount, the bank managed to finish the third quarter with a profit. Experts believe that the income that allowed MKB to offset the created reserves came from securities transactions.
According to its IFRS financial statements, Moscow Credit Bank (MOEX:
CBOM ) posted a net interest loss (including provisions) of almost 127 billion rubles for the first nine months of 2025. A year earlier, the bank posted a net interest income of almost 63 billion rubles. As a result, Moscow Credit Bank became the only bank to report a loss on this item out of nearly three dozen credit institutions that disclosed IFRS financial statements for this period. This result was due to the creation of significant reserves for credit losses on debt financial assets—199 billion rubles for the reporting period. Moreover, the majority of these reserves (almost 188 billion rubles) were created in the third quarter of 2025, resulting in an interest loss of almost 157.6 billion rubles.
These changes occurred against the backdrop of a deterioration in the bank’s corporate portfolio.
- According to IFRS reporting, the volume of overdue loans has increased eightfold since the beginning of the year, reaching 668 billion rubles, and its share in the portfolio has reached 28%.
- The corporate portfolio itself has shrunk by only 9% since the beginning of the year.
The ACRA rating agency, which confirmed the bank's A+ credit rating in October, noted that "the share of problem and potentially problem loans in the bank's portfolio has increased slightly compared to last year's value," according to both regulatory reporting and IFRS reporting, as well as the agency's own calculations.
At the same time, thanks to "other income" of almost 195 billion rubles, MKB posted a solid profit in the third quarter—21.9 billion rubles, compared to 8.6 billion rubles a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2025, profit amounted to 28.9 billion rubles, exceeding the previous year's result by 3%.
At the end of June of this year, the bank's top management team changed. According to a Kommersant source in the banking market, a significant number of representatives from VBRR joined the supervisory board of MKB at the last shareholders' meeting ( see Kommersant's July 4 report ). Furthermore, Dina Malikova, who previously held the position of chair of VBRR, replaced Maxim Korzhov as chair of the board of MKB, replacing him for seven months. She signed the IFRS report for the third quarter of 2025. At the time, Expert RA, which affirmed MKB's A+ rating, noted "the bank's increased sensitivity to major credit risks amid declining capital buffers and rising concentration indicators amid the introduction of new regulatory approaches."
In October, the National Rating Agency (NRA) affirmed MKB's AA- credit rating, noting that changes to the bank's ownership structure "increased its transparency" occurred in 2025. As ACRA notes, "the bank is currently pursuing a policy of increasing the level of reserves for problem assets and improving the overall loan portfolio."
According to a Kommersant source familiar with the situation, the Central Bank has been auditing MKB since mid-summer last year, and the Central Bank has determined that significant reserves have been under-recorded.
During the reporting period, "the bank's securities increased by 160 billion rubles, which were put into repo transactions, and the income from these transactions was used to accrue additional reserves and even reflect a profit," Kommersant's source believes. Another Kommersant source in the financial market notes that the bank needed to receive funds that would be classified as "income" rather than "attracted resources." "This could either be financial assistance, which could be in any form (cash, real estate, assets, etc.), or the bank could have sold the securities on which it received income," he explains. MKB did not respond to Kommersant's request.
Experts also believe that the income that covered the bank's interest loss came from securities. Oleg Abelev, Head of Research at Rikom-Trust Investment Company, notes the sharp change in securities prices, particularly at amortized cost. "It appears that MKB was earning quite a decent income in the third quarter from the amortized securities it held. The change there is approximately 200 billion rubles," he notes. He also notes that it's logical for the bank to increase its reserves in this situation.