TBC Uzbekistan Reports 2Q and 1H IFRS Results: Gross Loans Up 113% YoY to USD 400 Mln, With Net Profit for 1H24 at USD 16 Mln

TBC Uzbekistan (part of London-listed TBC Bank Group PLC, the “Group”), which includes mobile-only bank TBC UZ, digital payments app payme and payme nasiya (payme instalments), today announces its consolidated IFRS results for the three and six months ended 30 June 2024.

The company delivered impressive financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2024, demonstrating significant growth across key metrics.

Dynamic portfolio growth: Gross loans increased to USD 399 mln as of 30 June 2024 (113% growth YoY from USD 201 mln as of 30 June 2023). The company continues to grow its market share in Uzbekistan: as of 1 June 2024, ICL portfolio and micro loans market share stood at 16% (YE23: 13.9%). Uzbekistan’s business contribution to TBC Bank Group PLC is growing: as of 30 June 2024 TBC Uzbekistan accounted for 44% of total consumer loans in the Group’s portfolio.

Strong retail deposits growth: Deposits increased to USD 257 mln as of 30 June 2024 (58% growth YoY from USD 175 mln as of 30 June 2023), representing a 3% market share of retail deposits in Uzbekistan. TBC Uzbekistan accounted for 8% of TBC Bank Group’s retail deposit portfolio as of 30 June 2024.

Strong profitability:

Total operating income increased to USD 33 mln in 2Q24 (89% growth YoY) and to USD 61 mln in 1H24 (87% YoY), with TBC Uzbekistan accounting for 13% of TBC Bank Group’s total operating income. NIM stood at 24.3% for 2Q24 and 23.8% in 1H24.

Net profit increased to USD 9 mln in 2Q24 (90% growth YoY) and USD 16 mln in 1H24 (67% growth YoY). TBC Uzbekistan accounted for 7% of TBC Bank Group’s net profit in 1H24. ROE stood at 28% for 2Q24 and 26% for 1H24 respectively.

Customer growth: TBC Uzbekistan had 15.7 mln unique registered users as of 30 June 2024 (YE23: 13.2 mln), which makes it one of the largest digital banking ecosystems in Central Asia. Monthly active users stood at 4.7 mln.

Other highlights:

In June 2024, First Ratings initiated coverage of TBC Bank Uzbekistan with a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BB-’ with a Stable Outlook, equal to Uzbekistan’s sovereign rating.

In June 2024, TBC Bank Uzbekistan secured a USD 10 mln loan from responsAbility Investments AG, a Switzerland-based impact asset manager, an important step in the company’s strategy to broaden its funding base to further expand its loan portfolio growth.

In July 2024, TBC Bank Uzbekistan secured a record USD 38.2 mln equity investment from its shareholders TBC Bank Group PLC, EBRD and IFC to leverage its rapid and profitable growth, allowing it to maintain dynamic loan issuance and invest in new product launches.

Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Uzbekistan operations, commented: 

“TBC Uzbekistan is firing on all cylinders, as we scale up our business, continue to grow profitably and increase our contribution to TBC Bank Group.

Our proven and diversified business model continues to power exceptional growth across all key metrics: our net profit reached USD 16 mln for the first half of 2024, with gross loan book more than doubling to USD 400 mln, and deposit portfolio demonstrating a strong 58% growth year-on-year.

Uzbekistan’s economy is set to grow further, with GDP expected to almost double by 2030, and we believe we are ideally positioned to capitalise on this growth as we continue to build our best-in-class digital financial ecosystem. With almost 16 mln unique registered users and close to 5 mln monthly active users, we are already one of the largest digital financial ecosystems in Central Asia and we are poised for transformational growth as we add more products and services for our customers.”

Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, CEO of TBC Bank Group, commented:

“I am delighted to report a record quarterly net profit for TBC in 2Q 2024 as our earnings rose 12% year-on-year to GEL 329 million, with a return on equity of 27.1%. This excellent performance was underpinned by 16% year-on-year total operating income growth as our businesses in both Georgia and Uzbekistan continued to post strong growth within positive macroeconomic backdrops.

Our core Georgian business remains extremely profitable even in a declining rate environment, with almost 27% ROE and close to 20% loan growth. Meanwhile, our digital banking ecosystem in Uzbekistan goes from strength to strength, with both total operating income and net profit surging by around 90% year-on-year, and Uzbekistan now contributing 7% of group profit. Our Uzbekistan loan portfolio doubled year-on-year to GEL 1.1 billion/USD 400 million and now accounts for 44% of group consumer loans.’’

The Group expanded beyond Georgia, its home market, to Uzbekistan in 2019. Part of the London-listed Group, TBC Uzbekistan became a leading digital banking ecosystem in Central Asia. It includes mobile-only bank TBC Bank Uzbekistan, a digital payments app payme and an instalment credit business payme nasiya.