Georgia's TBC Bank first-quarter profit buoyed by strong lending

May 7, 2015 5:35 AM

May 7 (Reuters) - TBC Bank, Georgia's largest retail bank, reported a 28 percent jump in first-quarter profit buoyed by robust lending, beating sluggish economic growth in the country.

The bank, which raised around $640 million through an initial public offering of global depositary receipts in London last June, reported a net interest margin rise of 8 percent compared with 8.8 percent a year earlier.

Pretax profit increased to GEL 52.5 million ($22.7 million) compared with GEL 41.1 million in the comparable quarter a year earlier.

Georgia's economic growth slowed to 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015, hurt by the depreciation of the Georgian Lari against the dollar, slower growth rate in tourism and a decline in exports and remittances.

($1 = 2.3176 laris) (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)