Russia’s VTB Bank Issue Twice Over-Subscribed, Rises 5% On First Days Trading

Russia’s VTB bank conducted a share issue on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX: VTBR) on September 18, in the largest issuance in Russia for the past three years. It was also the largest share placement of a financial institution in Europe over the past 12 months.

The issue generated considerable interest among stock market participants, with demand generated by both institutional and retail investors twice over-subscribed.

Investors are expecting share price growth due to a reduction in the key Russian interest rate and an increase in VTB’s interest margins, as well as continued dividend payments. VTB Bank is a majority state-owned Russian bank registered in St. Petersburg. VTB is Russia’s second largest bank after Sberbank. VTB Bank and its subsidiaries form VTB Group—a Russian financial group uniting VTB banks located in different countries and offering a wide range of corporate banking services and products in Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Asia, and Africa. In April 2025, VTB opened a Chinese subsidiary, which operates a branch in Shanghai and is looking at expanding into Iran. In December 2024, VTB said it would hit a record profit of US$5.5 billion for the year.

VTB First Deputy Chairman Dmitry Pianov estimated the bank’s future net profit at ₽500 billion (US$5.9 billion) by the end of 2025 and ₽650 billion (US$7.8 billion) in 2026.

The issue was set at 1.264 billion shares, representing 23.5% of the outstanding common shares. More than 14,000 existing shareholders submitted pre-emptive applications for 94.8 million shares, with VTB raising ₽85 billion (US$1.01 billion) through the issue.

Andrey Kostin, VTB Chairman, said “We view these results very positively. The amount of funds that we received is about ₽85 billion, and there were 180 million applications. That is, we had plenty to choose from. We didn’t have to grab any anchors; we had a wide placement. Private citizens bought 41% of the issue—that is more than 20,000 thousand people. Institutional investors bought 59% of the shares. These are also very different financial institutions, and no one received any overly large share blocks in this placement.”

According to analysts, VTB continued to attract orders, both institutional and private. “The bank was actively marketing the offer and brought in additional brokers on the last day, so I wouldn’t be surprised if up to half of the book was market demand,” a source noted. VTB had also actively encouraged its clients to participate in the placement through its own “My Investments” app.

VTB stated that orders submitted through the VTB My Investments platform amounted to about ₽50 billion (US$600 million). However, the majority 59% of the placement came from larger investors, including pension funds and investment management companies.

The share offering was oversubscribed by over two times due to strong demand from private investors. Russian investment portfolio managers have also been bullish about the bank’s potential, with one source saying, “We expect VTB’s share prices to rise due to a reduction in the key rate and an increase in the bank’s interest margin, as well as dividends. If VTB can implement its plans and pay substantial dividends in the coming years, it will theoretically be able to compete with Sberbank and Sovcombank.”

Russian investment analysts estimate that VTB’s share placement implies a positive impact on other IPOs and SPOs expected this year.