LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - First-quarter profits at Georgia-focused banking group BGEO were up by an impressive amount, it reported on Tuesday, growing 39.6% year-on-year to GEL 87m (£25.5m).
The FTSE 250 firm reported earnings per share in the three months of GEL 2.10, up 28% on the same period last year.

Those earnings were off revenue of GEL 184.1m, up 3.7% year-on-year but down 8.5% on the prior quarter.

Its book value per share improved 17.7% to GEL 50.29, with total equity attributable to shareholders up by the same percentage to GEL 1.93bn.

BGEO's total assets increased 11.6% year-on-year to GEL 10.1bn, though that was a 0.4% drop on the previous quarter.

On 6 May, the company's total cash was GEL 210.4m, which included GEL 92.9m which the board intends to distribute following the AGM as the 2015 regular dividend of GEL 2.40 per share.

"I am pleased with the group's earnings momentum in the first quarter of 2016, and its ability to deliver strong performances in each business in the seasonally quiet first quarter of the year," said BGEO group CEO Irakli Gilauri.

"In the banking business profits grew by 18.5% year-on-year, supported by excellent franchise growth in the retail bank, where we now have over two million customers, resilient margins despite the impact of high levels of excess liquidity, and a reduction in the cost of risk.

"There was an even stronger performance in the group's investment businesses which delivered an almost four-fold growth in profits year-on-year," Gilauri explained.

Looking ahead, Gilauri pointed to a development in Georgian tax policy that is expected to be of significant benefit to it and other firms in the country.

The government is in the process of introducing a tax code amendment that will apply profit tax - currently 15% - only to distributed profits, with undistributed profits no longer attracting the tax.

"With a rapidly improving macroeconomic environment and strong tailwinds, we remain well positioned to deliver good levels of earnings momentum from both the organic business growth in each of our banking and investment businesses, and from the benefits of recent strategic initiatives and acquisitions."

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