Turkish banking sector net profit hits all-time high

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish banking sector's annual net profit reached 49.1 billion Turkish liras ($13 billion) in 2017, hitting an all-time high profit, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) on Tuesday.

Last year, the net profit of Turkish banks in 2017 recorded a yearly increase of 30.8 percent, compared with 37.5 billion Turkish liras ($10.7 billion) net profit over the previous year, the banking watchdog said.

As of December 2017, the total assets of Turkey's banking sector were 3.26 trillion Turkish liras ($862.7 billion), rising 19.4 percent, year-on-year.

Loans given by banks -- the biggest sub-category of assets -- stood at 2.1 trillion Turkish liras ($555.8 billion) at the end of last December, compared with 1.73 trillion Turkish liras ($494.5 billion) in the same month of 2016.

Deposits held at the country's banks amounted to 1.71 trillion Turkish liras ($453.4 billion) as of Dec. 31, indicating a 18 percent rise on a yearly basis.

The banking sector's regulatory capital to risk weighted assets ratio -- a significant indicator to figure out minimum capital requirements of lenders -- was at 16.8 percent last month, up from 15.5 percent in December 2016.

The BDDK figures showed the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans -- another crucial indicator that shows how healthy the banking sector is -- also showed a recovery last year, standing at 2.95 percent as of December 2017, down from 3.24 percent in the same month of 2016.