Lion Finance Group Plc delivers outstanding year for 2024

Lion Finance Group Plc (LON:BGEO), formally Bank of Georgia Group, has announced the Group’s preliminary unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2024. Unless otherwise noted, numbers in this announcement are given for 4Q24 and FY24, the year-on-year comparisons are with figures of 4Q23 and FY23 that are adjusted for one-off items and the q-o-q comparisons are with 3Q24 figures.

The information in this Announcement in respect of the full year 2024 preliminary unaudited results, which was approved by the Board of Directors on 24 February 2025, does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the UK Companies Act 2006. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies, and the audit reports were unqualified and contained no statements in respect of Sections 498 (2) or (3) of the UK Companies Act 2006. The audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 will be included in the Annual Report and Accounts expected to be published in April 2025, which will be filed with the Registrar of Companies following Lion Finance Group PLC’s Annual General Meeting.

The results are based on UK adopted international accounting standards, are unaudited and derived from management accounts.

Earnings call on 25 February 2025, 14:00 GMT – https://bankofgeorgia.zoom.us/j/98823247870

Webinar ID: 988 2324 7870

Passcode: 230839

Segmentation guide

Following the acquisition of Ameriabank at the end of March 2024, 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.

Lion Finance Group PLC delivers 4Q24 adjusted unaudited consolidated profit of GEL 504.7m and FY24 adjusted unaudited consolidated profit of GEL 1,813.0m

The Group posted adjusted ROAE of 29.6% in 4Q24 and 30.0% for the full year of 2024.

· The Group’s loan book increased by 65.9% y-o-y as at 31 December 2024 to GEL 33,558.9m, driven by strong growth of both Georgian and Armenian businesses, as well as the Ameriabank consolidation effect.

· As at 31 December 2024, Bank of Georgia’s Digital MAU among retail customers amounted to 1.6 million individuals (up 17.5% y-o-y), while Ameriabank’s – 232 thousand individuals (up 54.4% y-o-y). Upside in Armenia remains a top priority.

· The Board intends to recommend a final dividend of GEL 5.62 per share for 2024 at the 2025 Annual General Meeting, bringing the total dividend for 2024 to GEL 9.00 per share – an increase of 12.5% compared with 2023. In addition, the Board has approved a further GEL 107.7m share buyback and cancellation programme.

CEO statement

We have recently changed the Company name from Bank of Georgia Group PLC to Lion Finance Group PLC to better reflect the Group’s broader geographical presence, following the acquisition of Armenia’s largest bank, Ameriabank, in 2024. While the Company has adopted a new name, its principal operating entities – Bank of Georgia in Georgia and Ameriabank in Armenia -continue to serve customers under their well-recognised top-of-mind banking brands in their respective markets.

Political developments in Georgia have been top-of-mind recently, but the economy has continued to be robust throughout the uncertainties, and Bank of Georgia continues to operate as usual. Our baseline expectation for real GDP growth remains c.5% for 2025, on top of the 9.5% economic growth achieved in 2024.

In this environment, Bank of Georgia maintained higher-than-usual liquidity levels, reinforcing resilience while resulting in associated costs, which slightly drove down the net interest margin in the fourth quarter, while the core lending margin remained stable. That said, Georgian Financial Services delivered a strong full-year performance. The loan book grew by 19.3% y-o-y in constant currency, underpinned by sustained demand across segments. Operating income growth was solid at 11.5% y-o-y for the full year. Asset quality remained robust, with cost of credit risk for the full year at 0.4%. This translated into a record profit of GEL 1.6bn (up 14.9% y-o-y), with ROAE standing at 33.5%. Bank of Georgia further strengthened its customer franchise, achieving a 17.5% y-o-y growth in retail Digital MAU and record-high Net Promoter Scores in 2024.

While the Georgian business had a strong performance, our Armenian business, now accounting for 25.6% of total assets, did even better in terms of customer franchise growth since the consolidation date. The team in Armenia remains focused on expanding its product offerings and accelerating digital transformation, with enhancements in digital channels driving higher digital engagement and a remarkable retail Digital MAU y-o-y growth of 54.4% and q-o-q growth of 23.5%. On a standalone basis, loans were up 31.6% y-o-y and deposits up 22.3% y-o-y in constant currency as at 31 December 2024. Ameriabank’s standalone FY24 profit, which is not consolidated into Group results, was GEL 416.1m – this better reflects the full-year performance and scale of the Armenian business.

We remain optimistic about the Armenian growth story. The recent signing of the Charter on Strategic Partnership between Armenia and the US, ongoing EU visa liberalisation talks, and the Armenian government’s approval of a bill to initiate its EU accession bid all reinforce the country’s positive outlook. Armenia’s real GDP grew by 5.9% in 2024, and with ongoing structural reforms expected to further enhance the resilience and capacity of the Armenian economy, the IMF projects real GDP growth of 4.9% in 2025.

Overall, the Group achieved a record consolidated profit (adjusted for one-off items) of GEL 1.8 billion for the full year 2024, with an adjusted ROAE of 30.0%. In light of the Group’s strong performance, the Board intends to recommend a final dividend of GEL 5.62 per share for 2024 at the 2025 Annual General Meeting, bringing the total dividend for 2024 to GEL 9.00 per share – an increase of 12.5% versus 2023. Additionally, the Board has approved a further share buyback and cancellation programme of GEL 107.7 million. This brings the overall dividend and share buyback payout ratio for 2024 to 31%, calculated on adjusted EPS, in line with our capital distribution policy.

2024 was an outstanding year for the Group. Key achievements included the landmark acquisition of Ameriabank, the successful issuance of a US$ 300,000,000 Additional Tier 1 perpetual bond by Bank of Georgia, and Bank of Georgia being named the World’s Best Digital Bank 2024 by Global Finance. Moving into 2025, we remain focused on driving strong customer franchise growth and high profitability across our main markets.