OREANDA-NEWS. February 06, 2014. VTB Group discussed its new strategy with shareholders during an Investor Day in Samara.

Shareholders were invited to submit their proposals on the new strategy from October through December 2013. In all, the bank received over 130 proposals aimed at improving the group’s profitability and efficiency. Of these, more than 40% called for expanding the group’s retail network and improving the quality of its subsidiaries’ services, including by focusing on the specialisation of a given outlet, depending on the category of its clients. Approximately 25% of the proposals called for the introduction of new loan products, brokerage services, plastic and co-branded cards and private banking services. Some proposals urged the continued development of loyalty programmes and cross selling, in particular, the provision of insurance services at the group’s banks. Shareholders also proposed adding targets for the expense-to-revenue ratio to the strategy and also reducing expenses.

At the meeting in Samara, VTB officials said that all of the shareholders’ proposals had been thoroughly analysed. “We are grateful to our shareholders for their active contribution to the drafting of a new strategy,” VTB Bank Shareholder Relations Service Head Vladimir Khotkin said. “Some of their proposals are already being implemented, while other proposals on the group’s development and on enhancing efficiency are being analysed. Some of them will be incorporated in the new strategy, which will be presented in the first half of 2014.”

The bank’s shareholders and investors who attended the meeting heard about VTB Group’s financial indicators, dividend policy and system of interaction with shareholders.

During the second part of the meeting, representatives of VTB24’s Investment Department spoke about specific investment ideas and presented a detailed macroeconomic survey. Shareholders and VTB analysts discussed the factors that influence the value of the bank’s shares and also changes in the exchange value of the ruble.

The Investor Day in Samara was one in a series of meetings organised by VTB Group for shareholders, investors, analysts and other representatives of the investment community in Russian regions. In 2014, Investor Days will also be held in Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, St Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Moscow, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk and Kazan.