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Bank of Georgia Group PLC on Tuesday said it expects to benefit from ongoing healthy growth of Georgia’s economy, as it posted a solid jump in profit and net interest income. The Tbilisi-based lender said pretax profit jumped 44% to ₾606.5 million, around £174.9 million, in the third quarter of 2024 from ₾421.7 million a year ago. Net interest income rose 53% to ₾641.0 million from ₾420.0 million. Interest expense increased 65% to ₾474.4 million from ₾286.9 million. The company’s common equity tier 1 ratio edged up to 17.2% as at September 30, from 17.0% at June 30. The CET1 ratio compares a bank’s capital against its risk assets, with a higher ratio being more financially sound. Bank of Georgia anticipates to benefit from an expected real gross domestic product growth of Georgia of around 9% for 2024 and 6% for 2025, despite current post-election political tensions in the country. Chief Executive Officer Archil Gachechiladze said: ‘Overall, our business as a whole is performing well, and we keep focusing on supporting our customers with innovative, customer-centric solutions, and delivering strong growth and profitability in our key geographies, Georgia and Armenia.’ Bank of Georgia said its key targets for the medium term are 15% annual growth of the loan book and an over 20% return on average equity. In the third quarter, its loan book had surged 63% annually, while the return on average equity was 32.1%, up from 30.7% a year ago. Bank of Georgia shares were 5.2% higher at 5,083.12 pence each on Tuesday morning in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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