Georgia's Lion Finance Q4 profit rises, helped by fee and commission income growth

Lion Finance

25/02/2026 07:20

Overview

Georgia-based financial services firm's preliminary Q4 profit before one-offs rose 22.7% yr/yr

Company announced GEL 53.5 mln share buyback program

Company declared quarterly dividend of GEL 2.75 per share

Outlook

Lion Finance Group projects real GDP growth of 6.0% in Georgia for 2026

Company expects medium-term annual loan book growth of c.15%

Lion Finance Group targets 20%+ return on average equity

Result Drivers

LOAN BOOK EXPANSION - Co's loan book grew 19.7% y-o-y in constant currency, driven by strong growth in Georgian and Armenian operations

NON-INTEREST INCOME - Non-interest income rose 10.1% y-o-y in Q4, driven by fee and commission income growth

OPERATING EXPENSES - Operating expenses increased 14.0% y-o-y, mainly due to higher staff and administrative costs in GFS

Company press release: ID:nRSY2459Ua

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q4 EPS
GEL 13.62
Q4 Net Interest Income
GEL 795.90 mln
Q4 Basic EPS
GEL 13.84
Q4 Net Fee & Commission Income
GEL 226.25 mln
Q4 Operating Income
GEL 1.20 bln


Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 5 "strong buy" or "buy", 1 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the banks peer group is "buy"

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Lion Finance Group PLC is GBp9,856.00, about 4.4% below its February 24 closing price of GBp10,310.00

The stock recently traded at 7 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 6 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)