Importance The article analyzes the process of formation and interpretation of optimal capital structure in a credit institution under various methods enabling to consider from different perspectives the specifics of banking and financial statements. Objectives The study aims to analyze specific features of WACC calculation in credit institutions, methods of debt burden optimization, namely the WACC and EBIT volatility methods on the case study of PAO VTB Bank, and to provide recommendations on how to minimize the weighted average cost of capital to maximize its cost. Methods In the study, we test and present calculations under two major methods of optimal debt burden assessment: weighted average cost of capital and EBIT volatility. Results The results of the study enable to limit significantly the number of methodological approaches to assessment of optimal leverage of a credit institution not only due to the operational specifics, but also because of differences in statutory reporting, which prevent from identifying such indicators as EBIT and EBITDA. Conclusions Due to specifics of banking operations and differences in preparation of statutory reporting, the WACC method undergoes certain modifications that need to be taken into account when calculating the optimal leverage. Moreover, the number of methods suitable for this purpose is limited. The findings may be useful for chief financial officers and financial managers of credit institutions to make more flexible financial decisions in the sphere of interest rate, credit and investment policies.
Keywords: capital structure, bank, leverage, optimization
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