Turkish banking sector’s 9-month net profit up 28.6 pct

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s banking sector’s net profit reached 37.2 billion Turkish Liras ($10.5 billion) between January and September this year, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

Turkish banks’ nine-month net profit recorded a yearly increase of 28.6 percent, compared with 28.9 billion Turkish liras ($9.65 billion) net profit over the same period last year, the banking watchdog said on Oct. 31.

As of this September, the total assets of Turkey’s banking sector were 3.05 trillion liras ($862.4 billion), rising 20.5 percent year-on-year.

Loans given by banks—the biggest sub-category of assets—stood at 1.99 trillion liras ($563.2 billion) at the end of this September, compared to 1.61 trillion liras ($538.2 billion) of loans in the same month of 2016.

Deposits held at the country’s banks amounted to 1.63 trillion liras ($462.2 billion) as of Sept. 29, indicating a 22 percent rise on a yearly basis.

The banking sector’s regulatory capital to risk weighted assets ratio—a significant indicator to figure out minimum capital requirements of lenders—was at 17.2 percent last month, while it was 16.03 percent in September 2016.

BDDK figures showed that the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans—another crucial indicator shows how healthy the banking sector is—stood at 3.04 percent this September, down from 3.31 percent in the same month last year.

The Turkish banking sector posted 37.5 billion liras ($10.7 billion) net profit last year while total assets of the sector stood at 2.73 trillion liras ($778 billion) as of Dec. 30, 2016.