BankingData
Lion Finance Group lifts quarterly profit 21 per cent to GEL 661.9m
Armenian profit rose 45 per cent on 38 per cent loan growth, and the board declared a GEL 3.25 dividend and added GEL 62 million to the buyback.
Written with AI tools by Boards and Capital's editorial system; the publisher is responsible for it. How this site works
Lion Finance Group, the London-listed parent of Bank of Georgia and Armenia’s Ameriabank, made a consolidated profit of GEL 661.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 21.0 per cent on a year earlier, the group said on 4 November.
Return on average equity was 27.2 per cent in the quarter and over nine months, the full results announcement said. Nine-month profit rose 18.6 per cent to GEL 1,865.7 million. Net interest income grew 19.4 per cent to GEL 941.7 million in the quarter, and net operating income rose 19.6 per cent to GEL 1,294.6 million; over nine months net operating income reached GEL 3,661.0 million, up 18.1 per cent.
Loans reached GEL 46,501.2 million at the end of September, up 24.6 per cent on a constant currency basis, and client deposits and notes rose 21.1 per cent on the same basis to GEL 44,889.5 million. Non-performing loans were 2.0 per cent of the book and the cost of credit risk was 0.7 per cent in the quarter. Book value per share rose 26.5 per cent to GEL 233.36.
The growth was fuelled by loan book expansion across both the Georgian and the Armenian operations, the announcement said. Georgian Financial Services made a profit of GEL 494.2 million, up 13.9 per cent, with a return on average equity of 29.6 per cent and loans up 18.6 per cent in constant currency. Armenian Financial Services made GEL 161.4 million, up 44.8 per cent, with a return on average equity of 24.4 per cent and loans up 38.1 per cent. Both businesses reported non-performing loans of 1.9 per cent.
Digital use rose in both markets. Bank of Georgia’s retail digital monthly active users grew 14 per cent to just under 2.0 million, and Ameriabank’s 37 per cent to 417,400, AJ Bell reported from the release. In the announcement, Archil Gachechiladze, the group’s chief executive, said: “Our third quarter results reflect a business with real momentum across both franchises.”
The board declared an interim dividend of GEL 3.25 per share, up 22.6 per cent on a year earlier. It will be paid in pounds sterling on 18 December to shareholders on the register on 4 December, with an ex-dividend date of 3 December, converted at the National Bank of Georgia’s average lari to sterling rate for 30 November to 4 December, the declaration said. The group also extended its share buyback and cancellation programme by GEL 62.0 million, for up to 4,084,870 shares to be bought by the annual general meeting expected in May 2027, a separate notice said.
The results follow those of its Georgian peer: TBC Group made a record GEL 404 million in the same quarter and launched a GEL 50 million buyback. Georgia Capital reported a record net asset value per share in October, and Fitch revised Georgia’s outlook to positive.