UK's Lion Finance Group Q1 profit rises 14% on loan growth

Lion Finance

07/05/2026 07:11

Overview

UK-based regional banking group's Q1 profit rose 14% yr/yr, driven by loan and deposit growth

Q1 basic EPS rose 16% yr/yr to GEL 13.72

Company declared GEL 2.85 per share dividend and announced GEL 55 mln share buyback

Outlook

Lion Finance targets c.15% annual loan book growth in the medium term

Company aims for 20%+ return on average equity over the medium term

Company expects ongoing strong loan demand in Georgia to support net interest income

Result Drivers

LOAN BOOK EXPANSION - Group profit and operating income growth were supported by a 23.1% yr/yr increase in the loan book, with both Georgian and Armenian operations contributing

NET INTEREST AND FEE INCOME - Higher net interest income and net fee and commission income, particularly from both GFS and AFS, drove operating income growth

OPERATING EXPENSES - Operating expenses rose 13.8% yr/yr, mainly due to higher staff costs at GFS, including accelerated recognition of share-based awards

Company press release: ID:nRSG3188Da

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 EPS
GEL 13.61
Q1 Net Interest Income
GEL 809.61 mln
Q1 Basic EPS
GEL 13.72
Q1 Net Fee & Commission Income
GEL 176.05 mln
Q1 Operating Income
GEL 1.13 bln
Q1 Pretax Profit
GEL 697.02 mln


Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 4 "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 GBp12,500.00, about 11.7% above its May 6 closing price of GBp11,190.00

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