The upside of sanctions: Russian equities are relatively immune to chaos in the overseas financial markets. However, events abroad still move many of the underlying assets – yesterday saw swings in Brent and a boom in the gold price, the latter supporting local names (Polymetal and Polyus were two of yesterday’s best performers). In total, IMOEX notched a modest loss of 0.3%, not bad all things considered. The local market is likely to remain range-bound, driven by corporate reporting season 

Yields of the most actively traded OFZs added 6-16bp yesterday. The largest growth was observed in the shortest securities – yields in those with a maturity of less than a year rose by 16bp to 7.38-7.75% per annum. Activity was also observed in the far part of the curve, where yields grew 1-3bp. Issue 26239 (10.28%, 2031) led turnover, rising 6bp in yield 

Halyk Bank – 4Q22 IFRS Review: Nice beat across core lines – 29% ROE amid core revenue strength, lower CoR and a decline in OpEx – during the conference call today, we will focus on 2023 outlook and dividends – positive

Polyus – 2H22 IFRS Preview: Some recovery h/h – results should show a recovery h/h after a weak 1H22 – 2H22 EBITDA should rise 16% h/h to $1.4bn, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 57% (-9ppt h/h) – 2022 DPS could reach Rb436/sh or a 4.6% DY – dividends should be announced later in March-April – we expect further recovery in production and profits in 2023

MTS – Company eyes sale of operations in Armenia – operations in the country accounted for 1.5% of consolidated sales in 2022 – neutral