Ziraat Bankasi, Turkey’s largest
public-sector bank, has posted a 67% increase in net profits to
TRY3.5bn ($2.26bn), up from TRY2.1bn the previous year.
State-run rival Halkbank also posted a
significant rise in net profits, up 63% to TRY1.66bn.
Summing up the bank’s earnings in fiscal 2009,
Ziraat chief executive Can Akın Çaglar said: “That is the net
profit of the century.”
The public sector results mirror strong
performances from private sector rivals Garanti and Akbank
(see RBI 627).
UniCredit’s local subsidiary, Yapı Kredi, also
posted a resilient set of results, with net profits up by 23% to
TRY1.55bn.
Faik Açıkalın, Yapi Kredi chief executive, said
the bank was aiming to increase lending in fiscal 2010 by 17% to
18%, ahead of forecast sector growth of 12% to 15%. Açıkalın said
the bank would aim to increase its 838 branch network by 60 outlets
during 2010.
