Garanti Bank’s Q3 profit falls amid slowdown in lending

ISTANBUL

Turkish lender Garanti Bank on Oct. 24 posted an 11 percent decline in its third quarter net profit, down to 644.6 million Turkish Liras ($326.25 million), amid a slowdown in lending.

The bank posted 2.52 billion liras of net profit in the first nine months of the year, a 9 percent increase from the same period of the previous year.

“The rising trend in rates has put some pressure on the banking sector’s profitability since the beginning of the second half of the year. As Garanti Bank, our contribution to the Turkish economy increased by 29 percent in the first three quarters from the same period of the previous year, but the rise in net profits remained at 9 percent,” said Garanti Bank CEO Ergun Özen.