Net profit of Turkish banking sector up 39% in Jan-Aug

Türkiye’s banking sector posted a net profit of 350.58 billion Turkish liras ($13.2 billion) in the January-August period, the country’s banking watchdog said on Friday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

The sector’s net profit was up 39% on a yearly basis in the first eight-month period, according to data by Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA).

Total assets of the sector rose 60.2% year-on-year to 20.33 trillion Turkish liras ($700.67 billion) as of the end of August, the report showed.

Loans, the biggest sub-category of assets, were 10.44 trillion Turkish liras ($393.56 billion), up 56.75% compared with the same period of the last year.

On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Türkiye – the largest liabilities item – totaled nearly 12.93 trillion Turkish liras ($487.28 billion), up some %67.3 year-on-year.

The sector’s regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio stood at 18.69% as of the end of last month, while the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans was 2.38%.

A total of 54 state/private/foreign lenders – including deposit, participation, and development and investment banks – conducted banking activities in Türkiye as of August.

The sector had 204,497 employees, serving through 11,102 branches both in Türkiye and overseas.