Local banks’ profits stand at $6.3 bln

ISTANBUL

The combined profit of Turkish banks totaled some 36.2 billion Turkish Liras (around $6.3 billion) in the first nine months of 2019, the country’s banking watchdog BDDK reported on Oct. 30.

In the same period of last year, the Turkish banking industry’s net income stood at 41.3 billion liras.

According to data from BDDK, total assets of the sector rose by 10.5 percent - or 405 billion liras - from the end of 2018 to reach 4.27 trillion liras.

Loans - the biggest subcategory of assets - extended by local lenders grew by 5.8 percent compared to end-2018 to hit 2.53 trillion.

The non-performing loans to total loans ratio stood at 4.69 percent as of September, increasing from 3.22 percent a year ago, while the sector’s regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio - the higher the better - was 18.44 percent in September this year versus 18.04 percent in September 2018, data showed.

The banks’ net interest income increased by 6 percent on an annual basis to hit 113.9 billion liras, with interest revenues from loans rising 20 percent year-on-year to 245 billion liras.

Lenders’ interest income collected from consumer loans amounted to 46.6 billion liras versus 41.6 billion liras in the same period of 2018.

On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in the country amounted to 2.4 trillion liras, up 8.7 percent compared with end-2018.

Interest payments to deposits grew by 42 percent in the first nine months of the year to stand at 141 billion liras.

Last year, the Turkish banking sector’s net profit totaled 53.5 billion, up 10 percent annually.

As of end-September, the number of state, private, foreign lenders - including deposit banks, participation banks, and development and investment banks - conducted banking activities in Turkey was 51.