Turkish banks’ profits soar 24 pct in first half of 2024

ANKARA

The net profits of Turkish banks jumped 24 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2024, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

The sector posted a 314 billion Turkish Liras ($9.6 billion) net profit in January-June, up from 252.5 billion liras in the prior year.

Total bank assets amounted to 28.1 trillion liras at the end of June, with loans, the largest sub-category of assets, reaching 13.9 trillion liras.

On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Türkiye – the largest liabilities item – hit 16.5 trillion liras in the six months up to June.

The sector’s regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio – the higher the better – stood at 17.1 percent as of the end of June.

The ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans – the lower the better – was 1.53 percent.

Banks’ securities portfolio grew 15.6 percent from the end of 2023 to 4.6 trillion liras, while the shareholders’ equity increased by 14.5 percent to reach 2.5 trillion liras.

As of the end of June, 62 state/private/foreign lenders – including deposit banks, participation banks, and development and investment banks – were operating in Türkiye.

The number of branches declined from 10,970 from June last year to 10,875, while the number of employees increased from 206,493 to 209,294.