Georgia’s TBC Bank second quarter profit jumps

TBILISI: TBC Bank Group Plc, Georgia’s largest retail bank, reported a 37.2 per cent jump in second-quarter underlying net profit on Monday, as economic growth and a stable currency boosted lending.

Net interest margin was 6.8 per cent in the quarter, down 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, said TBC, which became Georgia’s largest bank by loans and deposits after buying JSC Bank Republic from France’s Societe Generale and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Underlying net profit rose to 86.3 million laris ($36.2 million) in the quarter ended June, from 62.9 million laris a year earlier.

“Accelerated economic development and a stable currency rate in 2Q 2017 continue to underpin sound growth in the banking sector,” TBC Bank said.

Last week Rival BGEO Group Plc, which is planning to split its banking and investment businesses, reported a jump in second-quarter pretax profit, driven by its banking and healthcare arms.

Georgia’s economy expanded 4.5 per cent in the first half of this year, up from 2.9 per cent in the same period in 2016, after a rise in exports and remittances from abroad. The government forecasts the growth at 4 per cent in 2017.

The economy has a good chance of exceeding the official 4 per cent growth projection this year, Economy minister Giorgi Gakharia said, thanks to private sector developments and the government spending on infrastructure projects. — Reuters