Akbank fourth-Quarter Profit Falls Short of Expectations

By Yeliz Candemir

ISTANBUL--Akbank TAS (AKBNK.IS), Turkey's second-largest bank by market value, Wednesday posted a 45% drop in its fourth-quarter net profit, due to foreign exchange losses on a weak lira and short- term swap costs.

The Istanbul-based bank said in a statement to the Bourse Istanbul that its unconsolidated net profit for the period fell to 597.2 million Turkish lira ($266 million) from TRY1.080 billion a year earlier. The net profit was below the forecast of TRY689 million by five analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Net interest income slightly rose to TRY1.58 billion from TRY1.5 billion due to a higher yield on CPI-linked bonds.

For the full year 2013, Akbank's net profit slightly fell to TRY2.942 billion from TRY2.949 billion a year earlier.

Akbank's shares closed steady at TRY5.83, while the overall Istanbul market closed 0.46% lower.

Write to Yeliz Candemir at [e-mail]

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