Bank of Georgia Holdings (LSE: BGEO) — the group behind the Tbilisi-based JSC Bank of Georgia — released its consolidated results for the first half and second quarter of 2014 this morning. At the time of writing its share price has edged up 0.12%.
First-half profit was up 17% year-on-year, at a record 112m Georgian Lari, or GEL, (£37.2m) on revenue that had increased 7.3% year-on-year, to GEL 281.5m (£93.5m). There were also record earnings per share (EPS) for the first half, at GEL 3.1 (£1.05). Second-quarter profit stood at GEL 58.3m (£19.4m), with Q2 EPS of GEL 1.64 (£0.54).Â
The bank said that its retail banking operartions had continued to deliver strong franchise growth, and that it had added 2,038 Express Pay Terminals and 613,159 Express Cards since the launch of its Express Banking service.
Meanwhile, Bank of Georgia’s corporate banking business saw its net loan book growth rate pick up in the second quarter, increasing 8.1% year-on-year to GEL 1,802.8 (£598.8m) as of 30 June 2014. Furthermore, its cost of deposits fell significantly, dropping from 5.5% to a record low of 3% in the first half.
Commenting on the results, CEOÂ Irakli Gilauri said:
“Retail Banking continues to post robust results strongly benefiting from our market leading positions in the mass retail and emerging market segments, in particular. Our Express Banking strategy will continue to contribute significantly to our client acquisition efforts, drive further increases in current account balances and will augment our constant cost-containment efforts on the back of the shift to predominantly technology-based lower cost banking services that we will deliver by means of this strategy and our existing superiority in the payment systems market. “
At 2,503p Bank of Georgia’s share price is up 40% on this time last year, during which time the FTSE All-Share index has only risen 5.4%. And since listing on the  London Stock Exchange in February 2012, Bank of Georgia share price has soared 144%, compared with an 18% gain in the All-Share index.
