Bloomberg: Russia Favorite With Banks to Energy Unless Sanctions Hit

Some of the most lucrative banks and energy companies in the world are also among the cheapest. What’s the catch? They are Russian.

While OAO Novatek has the best return on equity and assets among the 100 largest energy companies and OAO Sberbank has the second-highest net interest margin among lenders, deepening international sanctions against Russia are turning investors away. The two stocks have lost about $23 billion in combined market value in the past six weeks, leaving both at discounts of more than 40 percent to their industry rivals, as they became targets of the measures aimed at punishing Russia for its support of Ukrainian rebels.

Look beyond Novatek in the energy industry and the findings are similar. Six of the biggest Russian oil and gas companies, including OAO Lukoil, OAO Bashneft and OAO Rosneft, have an average return on equity of 18.8 percent, almost four times the global average, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
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