TBC Bank Group PLC on Thursday reported rises in profit, net interest income and earnings per share after an ‘efficient’ and ‘robust’ performance in the first quarter, and reconfirmed its targets.

The Tbilisi, Georgia-headquartered bank said its pretax profit for the first quarter of 2023 increased to ₾296.3 million, or £91.7 million, from ₾248.1 million for the same period in 2022. This represented a decrease from ₾370.7 million in the fourth quarter.

TBC Bank said net interest income increased by 27% year-on-year to ₾366.8 million from ₾288.6 million, and by 2.6% quarter-on-quarter from ₾357.4 million.

Operating expenses increased by 21% to ₾182.8 million from ₾151.0 million year-on-year and decreased 8.8% from ₾200.5 million in the fourth quarter.

TBC Bank did not declare a dividend for the quarter, unchanged year-on-year. Last month, it declared a final dividend for 2022 of ₾2.95 per share, which equated to a total of ₾5.45 per share for the year.

TBC Bank reiterated its medium-term targets announced in February. These included return on equity above 20% and annual loan growth of between 10% and 15%. Its Uzbek operations are expected to account for between 10% and 15% of net profit.

‘After a highly successful 2022, we continued to deliver robust financial results in Q1 2023,’ commented Chief Executive Officer Vakhtang Butskhrikidze.

Butskhrikidze also noted the ‘supportive’ macroeconomic environment, saying: ‘After double-digit expansion for two consecutive years, the Georgian economy maintained its strong growth momentum with real [gross domestic product] increasing by 7.2% in Q1 2023. This growth was driven by strong inflows across the board, from net exports to tourism and remittances.’

Shares in TBC Bank were down 4.3% at 2,320.00 pence in London on Thursday.

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