TBC Bank Moves to London Stock Exchange’s Premium Segment
As if the recent acquisition of Bank Republic was not impressive enough, smoothly making TBC Bank leader on the Georgian market, the countdown on the London Stock Exchange on 23rd of September, Friday, turned out to be yet another landmark moment in the bank’s history as it made its way up to the London Stock Exchange Premium Listing.
Its impacts, benefits and outcomes are not limited to the strengthening of Georgia’s image as a stable, dynamically developing country with the lowest rate of corruption and a flexible taxation system. The reforms undertaken over the years, social and economic stability, all make Georgia truly unique in the region, while its banking sector turns out to be one of the healthiest, since it managed to avoid the risks of devaluation.
All of these factors naturally led to the general boost of interest towards Georgia’s growing investment potential. At the same time, TBC Bank being listed on the London Stock Exchange Premium segment opens enormous possibilities for other companies in Georgia, particularly those planning to take the same route.
TBC Bank CEO, Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, spoke to GEORGIA TODAY about the opportunities being on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Premium Listing offers, and summed up the process of the group’s hard work in achieving this stunning result.
TBC Bank’s shares have been traded on LSE since 2014. At the end of the second year, could you summarize how the bank has benefited from listing on the LSE?
The Initial Public Offering of TBC Bank’s shares was carried out in June 2014. In just two years, the bank has demonstrated the standards of corporate governance and transparency that were necessary to qualify for the LSE’s premium segment. Premium listed companies are regulated by the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency. This implies that we have raised our standards of performance even higher and now offer our customers the world’s best practices in customer service.
The move to LSE premium segment creates unlimited opportunities for the bank’s development –now TBC Bank shares are available to the world’s largest and most influential investors, which will eventually increase the liquidity of our shares.
In addition, we believe that our presence in the LSE premium segment will contribute to raising awareness about Georgia and will create the necessary preconditions for businesses that operate in Georgia to enter the international arena.
In particular, how will the country and customers benefit from this?
It has an indirect impact on the market and customers. Today, we have a large number of foreign companies among our investors. These are the foundations that demonstrate trust in our country, which of course means they are interested in it. Secondly, their decision to invest depends on the conditions of the financial industry and the country’s banking sector, as well as on perspectives of its development. And, the third factor is TBC Bank itself.
In other words, country risks are already assessed and made by investors, which bring potential investments to other industries. Of course, investors have to see the perspective of growth, but the actual decision to invest will be much easier.
Premium Listing gives us a chance to expand our investor portfolio. If before going to the premium segment, the majority of our investors were the ones who financed emerging markets, now, we have the chance to attract British financial foundations. This raises awareness for Georgia while simultaneously assisting the liquidity of our shares.
How do you plan to attract British funds? Is the situation in the region attractive enough for them to invest?
Georgia goes to the category of “mostly free” economies according to the World’s Index of Economic Freedom and the number of taxes and tax rates are low in our country. In addition, reforms have been implemented here over the last 12 years. These are all factors that trigger investor interest.
Georgia’s banking sector is unique in terms of stability. If we look at the impact that currency depreciation has had on the economies and banking sectors in our neighboring countries, it can be said that the Georgian economy and banking sector had the healthiest and the most effective recovery. This year we are focused on growth, unlike our neighbors, which still face unsolved problems.
Will the bank become a candidate for the FTSE 250 list? When?
This is our goal and I believe we will manage to enter the FTSE 250 Index within the next two years.
It was recently announced that TBC Bank signed an agreement on the purchase of Bank Republic. Is this merger related to the move to Premium Segment and what is the next step in your strategy?
Yes, I hope we will finalize this transaction by the end of the year. As a result of this purchase, TBC Bank will be the number one bank on the market in terms of deposits and loans. Consequently, we can achieve more effectiveness. All this makes us anticipate an increased interest from investors.
During the last four years, TBC Bank has followed a strategy to become the strongest bank in Georgia in the retail and SME sectors. The strategy has been successful. Each year we are experiencing significant growth. We plan to continue this strategy. As we have promised our investors, we expanded the scope of our services over the course of one year - we currently operate as a financial group, i.e. previously we were present on the market only through a bank and a leasing company. Now, we have made significant investment in the investment services. I think these investments will become tangible for our group in 2017-2018. We have established an asset management company, which will start offering asset management products to local and foreign customers in 2018. We have even more plans and ideas; but you’ll have to wait and see!
Nino Gugunishvili