Banking sector’s profits rise in January-February

ISTANBUL

The combined net income of Turkish banks increased by 14 percent in the first two months of 2024 from a year ago to 74.7 billion Turkish Liras, data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) have shown.

The total assets of the banking industry increased by 4.7 percent from the end of 2023 to stand at 24.7 trillion liras, the watchdog said.

The banks’ securities portfolio grew more than 7 percent over the same period to reach around 4.26 trillion liras.

Loans extended by Turkish lenders exhibited an increase of 5.9 percent compared to the end of 2023, climbing to 12.4 trillion liras as of February.

Interests the banks collected from loans leaped 198 percent annually to 493 billion liras in January-February, with interests from consumer loans rising 96 percent. Interest income from credit cards soared 536 percent to 45.7 billion liras.

On the other hand, the interest banks paid for deposits increased by 312 percent from a year ago to 505 billion liras.

Deposits, the biggest fund resource of the banks, were up 1.9 percent from the end of 2023 to stand at 15.14 trillion liras.

Consequently, the banks’ net interest income rose by 27 percent compared with January-February 2023 to 121 billion liras.

The share of non-performing loans (NPL) in total loans was only 1.15 percent, declining from 1.93 percent in the same period of last year.

The capital adequacy standard ratio in the industry was 16.63 percent.

The number of banks in Türkiye increased from 54 in 2022 to 61, with nearly a total of 10,879 domestic branches and some 209,451 employees, up 208,319 employees a year ago.