Amazon have posted a 9.4% increase in fourth quarter revenue to $137.4bn, and booked a $12bn gain from their stake in EV company Rivian.
Amazon started with selling books online and became the world’s largest company by providing everything from food delivery to films and it’s own web services.
Russian bank Sberbank now hopes to emulate this process by harnessing its brand and over 100 million customers in Russia to become a tech giant.
The Russian Bank committed to diversifying away from its traditional banking activities with the launch of a food delivery service which is now available to customers across Russia. The group now provides streaming services and provides in-home Internet of Things services.
Like Amazon and their stake in Rivian, the future of the automation industry is also receiving Sber’s attention and the launch of SberAutoTech in 2020 will focus on autonomous vehicles and smart transport infrastructure.
We recently met with Sber at Web Summit and their intent was clear. Their focus is on delivering innovative technology solutions to consumers that have the potential to rival global tech giants.
Sber’s drive to become a tech giant is evident in their willingness to invest in R&D which they have demonstrated through the establishment of an R&D centre in Berlin.
“The opening of our R&D center in Berlin underscores our commitment to creating the best technological products and services for our clients with the help of the best specialists in the world.” said David Rafalovsky, executive vice president, Sberbank; CTO, Sber; head of Technology.
“We invite developers, architects, and data scientists to work on the most relevant and innovative projects that will change the customer experience for over 100 million Sber Group customers.”
Sber are also in a position to harness the behaviours of a young demographic that have a high propensity to utilise technology and new services.
Sber count over 80% of Russia’s 14-21 year olds as clients and have moulded a workforce that is 60% Gen Y and Z.
Indeed, 54% of Sberbank’s customers are already digital only and have 73 million monthly active users on their digital banking services, further highlighting the readiness of their users to adopt technological solutions in their everyday lives outside of their finances.
The market has generally welcomed Sberbank’s transformation and shares rose significantly through 2021 before falling back as we closed in on 2022.
Investors will also be encouraged by an update in December that pointed to a tripling in non-financial revenue and Sber’s London-Listed ADRs could be one to keep an eye on if tensions with Ukraine ease.
