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Sovcombank is one of the country's largest private banks, and it grew out of a small bank in Kostroma. Its distinguishing feature is growth through buying other banks and financial companies: over two decades the group has acquired dozens of assets. Its shares trade on the Moscow Exchange under the ticker SVCB.
The bank earns money from three lines of business at once, and this is a deliberate design. The retail division is best known for its instalment cards — a product where the income comes not from the borrower but from the retail chain, which gives up part of its margin in return for the shopper the bank brings in. The corporate division lends to medium-sized and large businesses.
The third line is treasury: operations in securities and foreign exchange. Its risk is of a different nature: it delivers a sizeable profit in a favourable market and can produce a loss in an unfavourable one, which is why the bank's results swing more widely than those of institutions with a purely lending-based model.
The insurance and leasing business stands apart: it was acquired together with the companies that run it and generates fee and commission income.
Instalment cards, consumer loans, mortgages, deposits.
Lending to medium-sized and large businesses, cash management and settlement services, factoring.
Operations in bonds, foreign exchange and derivatives.
Acquired companies that generate fee and commission income outside the bank's balance sheet.
Strengths and weaknesses describe the business itself. Opportunities and threats describe what may happen around it.
It is a universal bank: it lends to individuals and companies, takes deposits, handles payments and settlements, and also carries out operations in securities and foreign exchange. The group includes an insurance company and a leasing company.
The shopper pays in instalments and without interest, while the bank receives a fee from the retail chain — it gives up part of its margin in return for the customer brought to it. For the shopper the product is free as long as they pay on time.
The treasury division — operations in bonds and foreign exchange — plays a significant role. Their result depends on the state of the market, not only on the work with customers, so the swings here are larger than at banks with a purely lending-based model.