TBC Bank FY up on increased commission income

Georgian Bank TBC said full year net profits rose 20.7% to GEL359.9m (£105m) supported by increased fee and commission income, which helped to offset an anticipated fall in net interest margin.

Net fee and commission income grew 39.5% year-on-year, mainly related to an increase in settlement and card operations, the company said.

Over the same period, total non-interest income, excluding net fee and commission income, rose by 30.6% year-on-year primarily due to an increase in gross insurance profit and foreign exchange gains.

Net interest margin dropped by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year on underlying basis, mainly due to the decrease of loan yields and stricter liquidity requirement.

Cost-to-income ratio was 41.7% from 45.8% a year earlier. Gross loans and advances to customers stood at GEL8.55BN, up16.2%.

“Looking ahead, we are confident that we are well-positioned to achieve sustainable growth and deliver superior results to our shareholders,” the bank said.

“Therefore, we would like to reiterate our medium-term targets: ROE of above 20%, cost to income ratio below 40%, dividend pay-out ratio of 25-35% and loan book growth at around 15%.”