Turkish banks’ net profit down by 14 percent in Q1

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s banking authority has announced that the country’s banking sector’s net profit slumped 13.9 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year.

According to the temporary figures released by the Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, BDDK, the sector´s profit stood at 6.06 billion Turkish Liras ($2.92 billion) for the first quarter of 2014, 980 million liras ($473 million) less than for the same period in 2013.

The Turkish Lira tumbled to almost 2.4 to the dollar and 3.23 to the euro in the first month of the year and this plunge was widely seen as endangering the Turkish economy, which is heavily dependent on dollar and euro pegged transactions and loans for the country’s everyday business.

“Turkish banks will face a tough year of weakening asset quality, tighter margins and lower growth … against a background of higher rates, a weaker currency, a slower economy and political uncertainty,” Fitch Ratings said in the latest publication of its regular emerging market banking system data watch in April.

On Jan. 28, the Central Bank more than doubled its borrowing rate from 3.5 percent to 8 percent and raised the lending rate from 7.75 percent to 12 percent.

The net profits for Turkey’s banking sector were up by 5.1 percent for 2013 compared to the previous year.