Major MFOs Post Record Profits: How Online Lending Boom Is Reshaping the Microcredit Market

The microfinance market reached a new profit level in 2025. According to the Central Bank, the aggregate financial result of MFOs came to approximately 66–67 billion rubles, up 26% from the previous year. However, this figure reflects not so much improved margins as simple business expansion.

Companies actively ramped up lending, attracted new clients, and increased turnover. Yet the picture within the market remains uneven. Based on nine-month results, the regulator noted that more than half of MFOs saw profits decline, while about a third operated at a loss. In other words, the bulk of profits are generated exclusively by the largest companies, while a significant portion of the market feels far less confident.

Market polarization: profits for leaders, pressure on the rest

Formally, the microfinance sector appeared more efficient in 2025. Average return on equity rose from 20% to 21%, but this metric conceals a different picture—it essentially shows aggregate data: as the famous Russian saying goes, "I eat cabbage and my neighbor eats meat—on average we both eat stuffed cabbage." That's why we need to look at median profitability, where all companies are ranked by profitability level and the middle value is taken, without accounting for market share. And that figure, by contrast, fell to roughly 2–3%, with a significant portion of companies seeing returns hovering near zero or slipping into negative territory. Essentially, the rise in "average temperature" is driven by a few large players, while most market participants operate with minimal returns.