Russia's VTB board recommends first dividend since start of Ukraine war

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's second largest bank, VTB, announced its first dividend payment since the start of the war in Ukraine on Monday.

Shares in the bank rose 25%, according to Moscow Stock Exchange data, after VTB unexpectedly said its board had recommended paying out 50% of 2024's profit to shareholders. CEO Andrei Kostin said this was thanks to the fact that the bank had exceeded its targets for the past year.

"This will ensure a record dividend yield, contribute to the long-term sustainable growth of VTB's shareholder value, and increase investor confidence in both VTB's shares and the domestic stock market as a whole," Kostin said.

The bank had previously planned to resume regular dividend payouts in 2026.

VTB made a record profit of 551.4 billion roubles ($6.70 billion) in 2024, a 27.6% increase on the previous year, although a fall to around 430 billion roubles is expected this year.

($1 = 82.3500 roubles)

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)