Two of the three Georgian companies listed on the LSE showed solid growth

The value of export increased by 14.2 percent reaching USD 2 014.4 million, while the import increased by 15.7 percent and amounted to USD 5 741.3 million.The trade deficit equaled USD 3 726.9 million and its share in trade turnover constituted 48.1 percent.

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"This time, we take a closer look at inflation and dive deep into the major drivers through various channels such as product origin, type, category, as well as underlying measures;Inflationary pressures have somewhat increased in the past few months, although the recent drop in international commodity prices has likely not fully been translated in inflation yet;However, not surprisingly amid strong growth, domestic and service inflation have been on the rise lately, an important development to keep an eye on in the context of underlying trends;On the other hand, pressure from the jobs market does not appear strong, as the growth rate of unit labour costs has dipped below what the 3% target would imply, especially if measured in real terms which, in our view, is more relevant to assess future inflationary pressures;With respect to imported inflation, the recent depreciation of the GEL real effective exchange rate needs to be considered;This is particularly important as, per our research, around 75% of total variance in Georgia’s inflation has been explained by a common regional factor;Overall, assuming a broadly neutral stance on the GEL, we expect YE-2025 inflation to stand at 4% from the current 3.4%, though, in case of higher pressures, recent undervaluation and excess USD supply should probably manifest in more pronounced GEL/USD appreciation rather than mainly ongoing reserve replenishment", - the document reads. 

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The 1Q 2025 Dividend will be payable in Pounds Sterling to ordinary shareholders of TBC PLC on the register of members at the close of business on the record date of 15 August 2025, pursuant to the following timetable: Ex-Dividend Date: 14 August 2025 Record Date: 15 August 2025 Currency Conversion Date: 15 August 2025 Payment Date: 5 September 2025 The Georgian Lari to Pound Sterling exchange rate that will apply to the final dividend payments on the conversion date of 15 August 2025 will be the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Georgia for the period of 11 August 2025 to and including of 15 August 2025 (5 days average).“I am pleased to announce that the Board has approved the decision to issue quarterly dividends, which will contribute to the regular growth of shareholder value. This step was made possible by the strong operating performance, business predictability and prudent capital management. Accordingly, the Board has declared an interim dividend for 1Q25 in the amount of 1.5 GEL per share,” said Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, CEO of TBC PLC.

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In detail:• The residential segment index increased by 3.1% compared to the previous month and increased by 9.2% compared to the same month of the previous year;• The non-residential segment index increased by 3.6% compared to the previous month and by 5.5% compared to the same month of the previous year;• The civil segment index increased by 0.9% compared to the previous month and increased by 3.5% compared to the same month of the previous year.In March 2025 the Construction Cost Index (CCI) increased by 2.2 percent compared to the previous month. The change was mainly due to a 11.7% increase in average monthly nominal wages of employees in the construction sector, which contributed 2.2 percentage points to the total index change.Compared to March 2024 the CCI increased by 6.3%. The latter was largely caused by the 22% increase in average monthly nominal wages of employees in the construction sectorand by the 2.7% increase in the prices of construction materials, which contributed 4.25 and 1.64 percentage points to the total index change, respectively. Along with this, the Construction.Cost Index posted a 23.5% increase compared to February.

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As of Q1/2025, the market is represented by 30 MFOs, whose total portfolio has decreased by 300 million compared to the same period in 2024. This is only the effect of the exit of 2 MFOs from the market. The former MFO, Crystal, moved to the microbanking market with credit investments of more than 500 million GEL. MBC, whose portfolio was within 120 million GEL, also left the MFO.Lazika Capital, which, unlike the other pawnshops in the TOP-8, is also preparing for microbanking, is represented by a business portfolio.

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From the total number of border crossings, visits by Georgian resident visitors amounted to 482,100, which is 7.6 per cent less than the same period in 2024.The GeoStat reports that Georgian residents made 323,100 tourist-type visits abroad, which is 1.7 per cent lower year-on-year. The majority of visits, 47.1 per cent, were made by Georgian residents aged 31-50, while visits made by women constituted 44.9 per cent of all visits.Additionally, according to GeoStat, during the first quarter of 2025, the largest portion of visits - 36.6 per cent - was made to visit friends and relatives. Most visits were to Turkey and Armenia, with 184,900 and 70,200 visits, respectively.The average number of nights spent during visits in the first quarter of 2025 was 6.7, which is 4.0 per cent higher than the figure recorded in the first quarter of 2024 (6.4 nights). Repeat visits accounted for 98.6 per cent of all visits.Expenses incurred during visits in the reporting period amounted to GEL 481.5 million, which is 5.7 per cent higher than last year. The average expenditure per visit increased by 14.4 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2024, reaching GEL 998.8.

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According to the statement of TBC PLC CEO Vakhtang Butskiridze, they had a significant increase in the issuance of new cards, both in the Georgian and Uzbek markets.“I am pleased to report a strong start to 2025, which is particularly welcome given the uncertain global backdrop. In 1Q 2025, our operating income increased by 25% year-on-year and amounted to GEL 774 million, while our net profit reached GEL 319 million, up 7% year-on-year, delivering above 23% ROE.It was a very active quarter in building out our recent pipeline of new product launches. This included excellent growth in the issuance of our new Georgian daily banking product, TBC Card, with new card issuance almost tripling in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, in Uzbekistan, our Salom Card daily banking product and Osmon credit card have both hit the ground running, with over 275,000 cards issued by the end of the first quarter”, - Butskhrikidze said.According to him, TBC recently extended their SME digital banking offering to include unsecured loans as they look to develop the huge untapped opportunity within the SME sector in Uzbekistan.As we offer new products and improved customer experience, we in turn continue to see strong customer growth, with digital monthly active users (“MAU”) reaching 7.2 million at the Group level, up by 1.6 million, or 28%, year-on-year.As of Butskhrikidze, over one-third of their users engage with TBC’s digital platforms on a daily basis, which is an excellent indicator of user loyalty and engagement.The group will present the results to investors today at 2:00 PM BST.

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As of May 1, the volume of GEL in circulation is 6.4 billion (01.04.2025 – 6.3 billion; 01.05.2024 -5.7 billion).In March, there was a decrease of several million. In February, according to the NBG's "Monthly Review" (the month reviewed is one month ahead of the month of publication of the document), the volume of reserve money decreased by 47.7 million GEL (0.7%), to 7 billion, and the monetary base decreased by 112 million GEL.The NBG did not carry out transactions through foreign exchange auctions and the BMatch platform.With internal government conversions, the regulator's net sales amounted to 148 million lari. As a result, foreign exchange reserves decreased. The NBG could not fully cover the February deficit in March, but managed to replenish it by 102 million lari. As investment bankers say, the NBG purchased even more on BMatch in April.At the moment, according to the latest "Monthly Review", broad money (M3) decreased by 404.5 million lari in February. This was mainly due to a decrease in foreign currency deposits.

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