Lion Finance Group PLC (LON:BGEO) has announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2026 (3Q26 and 9M26). Unless otherwise noted, 3Q26 results are compared year-on-year with 3Q25 and quarter-on-quarter with 2Q26; 9M26 results are compared year-on-year with 9M25.
The results are prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards, are unaudited and derived from management accounts.
Earnings call on 4 November 2026, 14:00 GMT
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Segmentation guide
The Group’s results are presented by the following Business Divisions: 1) Georgian Financial Services (GFS), 2) Armenian Financial Services (AFS), and 3) Other Businesses.
| • | GFS mainly comprises JSC Bank of Georgia and the investment bank JSC Galt and Taggart. |
| • | AFS includes Ameriabank CJSC. |
| • | Other Businesses includes JSC Belarusky Narodny Bank (BNB), which serves retail and SME clients in Belarus; JSC Digital Area, a digital ecosystem in Georgia including e-commerce, ticketing, and inventory management SaaS; Lion Finance Group PLC, the holding company; and other small entities and intragroup eliminations. |
Customer growth across core markets drives continued earnings momentum
| • | Consolidated 3Q26 profit of GEL 661.9 million (+21.0% y-o-y) and 9M26 profit of GEL 1,865.7m (+18.6% y-o-y), with return on average equity at 27.2% in both periods. |
| • | 3Q26 dividend of GEL 3.25 per share, up 22.6% y-o-y, with a further GEL 62m share buyback and cancellation programme. |
Archil Gachechiladze, CEO of Lion Finance Group, said: “Our third quarter results reflect a business with real momentum across both franchises. In Georgia, around half the population use our app every month — with over 1 million opening it every single day. Having reached significant scale, we are increasingly focused on the depth of that engagement, and on the quality of the experience that drives it. In Armenia, Ameriabank continues to grow well ahead of both the market and our own targets, with the loan book up 38.1% year-on-year in constant currency, and Retail Digital MAU growing 36.8% year-on-year, as we scale the franchise and gain market share in one of the region’s most dynamic economies.”
Group performance highlights
| • | A growing active customer base and larger balance sheet supported a 25.4% y-o-y increase in operating income before cost of risk to GEL 880.6m in 3Q26, with profit up 21.0% y-o-y to GEL 661.9m and an ROAE of 27.2%. | |
| • | Bank of Georgia’s Retail Digital MAU grew 13.9% y-o-y to 1,987.2 thousand individuals, while Retail Digital DAU reached 1,076.8 thousand individuals, up 20.1% y-o-y, reflecting continued deepening of customer engagement across our Georgian franchise. | |
| • | Ameriabank’s Retail Digital MAU grew 36.8% y-o-y to 417.4 thousand individuals, while Retail Digital DAU grew 42.5% y-o-y to 181.7 thousand individuals, underscoring the accelerating momentum of our Armenian retail franchise. | |
| • | The Group’s loan book reached GEL 46,501.2m as at 30 September 2026, up 24.6% y-o-y in constant currency (cc). The growth was fuelled by loan book expansion across both the Georgian (GFS) and Armenian (AFS) operations, which recorded year-on-year cc increases of 18.6% and 38.1%, respectively. | |
| • | Client deposits and notes totalled GEL 44,889.5m as at 30 September 2026, reflecting a 21.1% y-o-y increase in cc. GFS deposits rose by 14.5% y-o-y, driven by continued strong growth across the board. AFS deposits grew by 39.5% y-o-y, with solid growth across both retail and corporate segments. | |
| • | The Group maintained sound asset quality, with the cost of credit risk ratio at 0.7% in 3Q26 (0.5% in 3Q25 and 0.6% in 2Q26) and 0.5% in 9M26 (0.4% in 9M25). The NPL ratio stood at 2.0% in 3Q26 (2.1% in 3Q25 and 2Q26), with 1.9% at GFS and 1.9% at AFS. | |
| • | At GFS, the cost of credit risk ratio stood at 0.7% in 3Q26 (0.6% in 3Q25 and 0.5% in 2Q26), with the y-o-y change primarily driven by the normalisation of retail ECL charges, while underlying portfolio performance remained stable and resilient, as reflected in a continued improvement in the NPL ratio (see page 9). At AFS, the cost of credit risk ratio was 0.5% in 3Q26 (0.0% in 3Q25 and 0.6% in 2Q26), with the y-o-y change mainly driven by retail segment, where cost of risk exceeded its normalised level of 1.2-1.4% during the current phase of growth, which we expect will revert to its normalised level (see page 12). | |
| • | Net operating income was up 19.6% y-o-y to GEL 1,294.6m in 3Q26 and up 18.1% y-o-y to GEL 3,661.0m in 9M26. The annual top-line growth was primarily driven by net interest income generated by both GFS and AFS, complemented by net fee and commission income generation across both operations. | |
| • | Group NIM stood at 6.5% in 3Q26, up 20 bps both y-o-y and q-o-q. From July 2026, mandatory reserves are excluded from interest-earning assets across the Group. This follows the National Bank of Georgia’s (NBG) decision to make foreign currency mandatory reserves non-interest-bearing. As this is consistent with the practice of the central banks in our other markets, we have applied the same treatment to AFS and the Other segment, alongside GFS. At GFS, this resulted in a 20-bps uplift in NIM to 6.6%; excluding this effect, the underlying NIM was flat q-o-q. At AFS, NIM rose 40 bps q-o-q to 6.4%, of which 30 bps reflects the same adjustment, with underlying NIM up 10 bps q-o-q. | |
| • | The Group’s operating expenses increased 9.0% y-o-y to GEL 414.9m in 3Q26 and 11.8% y-o-y to GEL 1,231.0m in 9M26, with positive operating leverage maintained across the Group and both core segments. In Georgia, the cost-to-income ratio remained well-controlled at 27.8% in 3Q26. In Armenia, operating leverage was positive and reached 13.5%, adjusting for the elevated prior-year cost base associated with a management retention programme. | |
| • | Capital adequacy and liquidity positions for both Bank of Georgia and Ameriabank remained comfortably above the minimum regulatory requirements (for details, see pages 10 and 13). | |
CEO statement
The Group delivered another strong set of results in the third quarter and first nine months of 2026. Profit reached GEL 661.9m in 3Q26, up 21.0% year-on-year, and GEL 1,865.7m for the nine-month period, an increase of 18.6% year-on-year. Our book value per share reached GEL 233.36, up 26.5% year-on-year, or up 31.5% in US dollar terms, and this is before accounting for the dividends distributed to shareholders over the period, making it a meaningful measure of the value our franchises continue to create.
In Georgia, our franchise continues to deepen. Nearly 2 million retail customers use our app every month and over 1 million every day, 77% of retail products are sold digitally, and our externally measured NPS hit a new record of 78. Our loan book grew 18.6% year-on-year in constant currency, ahead of the market at 16.9%, while net interest margin remained broadly stable quarter-on-quarter on an underlying basis. At the same time, we delivered positive operating leverage, with a cost-to-income ratio of 27.8% in 3Q26, while asset quality remained sound, as reflected in a record-low NPL ratio of 1.9%.
Bank of Georgia was recently named the World’s Best AI Bank by Global Finance, recognition that reflects years of building our data, management capability, technology and talent in-house. Yet we feel we are only scratching the surface. BOG App’s AI assistant already resolves over 80% of customer queries independently, with a 91% satisfaction score, and we are exploring where it can go next, including a fully voice-led experience. Across the bank, we are addressing areas that span efficiency and customer experience: rethinking processes entirely, such as transaction processing and AML, alongside simple everyday improvements, like turning a photo of an uploaded invoice into a ready-to-pay transfer.
In Armenia, the mass retail rollout continues to broaden our reach. Retail Digital Monthly Active Users grew 36.8% year-on-year to over 417 thousand individuals, with Daily Active Users up 42.5% year-on-year, driven by continued enhancements to the MyAmeria platform and deeper engagement across a growing customer base. Loans grew 38.1% year-on-year in constant currency, ahead of market at an estimated 25.4%, and deposits grew 39.5% year-on-year in constant currency. Ameriabank further strengthened its position as Armenia’s largest lender, with its loan market share rising to 23.0% as at 30 September 2026 (up 1.8 percentage points year-on-year), while net interest margin improved slightly quarter-on-quarter on an underlying basis. Ameriabank delivered strong positive operating leverage in 3Q26. As the franchise continues to scale, we see further room to improve efficiency, and the trajectory gives us confidence.
Together, our two franchises grew the Group loan book 24.6% year-on-year in constant currency, well ahead of our c.15% blended target. We delivered this growth alongside a stable net interest margin on an underlying basis, a healthy cost of credit risk and strong cost control, demonstrating that our expansion is disciplined as well as ambitious.
Georgia and Armenia continue to sustain strong economic momentum, underpinned by prudent macroeconomic management, and we maintain our full-year 2026 real GDP growth forecasts at 7.5% for Georgia and 5.5% for Armenia. In 2026, both S&P and Fitch revised their sovereign outlooks to Positive from Stable for Georgia (S&P in August, Fitch in October) and for Armenia (Fitch in January, S&P in February). Georgia continues to benefit from strong external inflows, while Armenia has shown notable resilience and adaptability amid geopolitical headwinds in the broader region. Elevated inflation, driven primarily by higher energy prices, remains a factor in both countries. We expect interest rates to remain elevated, with slight upside risk. Over the medium term, large-scale transformational investment projects are enhancing both countries’ strategic importance in regional trade and connectivity, and our established, market-leading franchises position us well to capture the opportunities ahead.
I want to thank our employees across our countries of operation for their continued dedication to the success of our customers and, by extension, the success of the entire Group.
Archil Gachechiladze CEO,
Lion Finance Group PLC
3 November 2026
