Banks' profit rises 32 percent in January-April, show data

ANKARA

The combined net income of Turkish banks increased by 32 percent in the first four months of 2024 from a year ago to 190.7 billion Turkish Liras ($5.94 billion), show data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

Total assets in the banking industry grew by 11.4 percent compared with the end of 2023 to reach 2.69 trillion liras as of April.

Loans extended by banks increased 12.6 percent over the same period to 13.15 trillion liras. Interest income from loans amounted to 1.1 trillion liras, pointing to an annual increase of 205 percent with interest income from consumer loans rising 99 percent to 143 billion liras. Banks collected 94.7 billion liras from interest on credit cards, a 494 percent year-on-year rise.

Interest paid for deposits soared 277 percent annually to more than 1 trillion liras. Deposits, the biggest fund resource of the banks, increased by 5.3 percent compared with the end of last year to 15.64 trillion liras.

Consequently, banks' net interest income grew 57 percent to 297 billion liras.

The share of non-performing loans in total loans was 1.52 percent, down from 1.86 percent a year ago.

Turkish banks up 53 percent and 42 percent over the past six and three months, respectively, outperforming the MSCI EM EMEA index, Goldman Sachs said in a report this week.

“Increasing market confidence in the return of Turkey monetary policy to a more orthodox framework with an outlook for consequent disinflation were the key drivers of the rally in our view,” wrote the analysts at Goldman Sachs.

There were a total of 61 banks operating in Türkiye as of April, up from 54 a year earlier.

This week, BDDK allowed the establishment of two investment banks, namely Marin Yatırım Bankası and Aytemiz Yatırım Bankası, and one digital participation bank, Adil Katılım Bankası.