This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
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Net Income (First Half 2026):TRY34.333 billion, up 38% year-over-year.
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Return on Equity (ROE, First Half 2026):22.2%.
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Return on Assets (ROA, First Half 2026):1.9%.
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Revenue (First Half 2026):TRY140.320 billion, up 45% year-over-year.
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Net Interest Income (First Half 2026):Expanded by 95% year-over-year.
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Fee Income (First Half 2026):Increased by 35% year-over-year.
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Swap-Adjusted Net Interest Margin (NIM, Second Quarter 2026):Declined by 25 basis points to 3%.
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Operating Expenses (OpEx, First Half 2026):Up 37% year-over-year.
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Cost-to-Income Ratio (First Half 2026):Around 52%.
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Total Capital Ratio (Second Quarter 2026):16.4%.
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Tier 1 Capital Ratio (Second Quarter 2026):13.3%.
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Core Equity Tier 1 Ratio (Second Quarter 2026):11.3%.
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Non-Performing Loan (NPL) Ratio (Second Quarter 2026):Stable at around 3.5%.
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Net Cost of Credit (First Half 2026):220 basis points (excluding currency impact).
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TL Loan Growth (Year-to-Date 2026):8%.
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FX Loan Growth (Year-to-Date 2026):3% in US dollar terms.
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Full Year 2026 ROE Guidance:Revised to 23% to 25% (from high-20s).
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Full Year 2026 Swap-Adjusted NIM Guidance:Revised to 3.2% to 3.5% (from around 4%).
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Full Year 2026 TL Loan Growth Guidance:Over 30% (reaffirmed).
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Full Year 2026 FX Loan Growth Guidance:Revised to high single digits.
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Full Year 2026 Fee Income Growth Guidance:Above 30% (reaffirmed).
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Full Year 2026 OpEx Growth Guidance:Low 30s.
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Full Year 2026 Cost-to-Income Ratio Guidance:Revised to high-40s (from low-40s).
Release Date: July 28, 2026
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
Positive Points
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Net income increased 38% year-on-year to TRY34.333 billion in the first half of 2026.
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Fee income grew 35% year-on-year, fully covering quarterly operating expenses.
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TL demand deposit market share among private banks increased by 130 basis points year-to-date.
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NPL market share among private banks reduced by 130 basis points year-to-date, reflecting strong asset quality management.
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Capital ratios improved with total capital at 16.4% and Tier 1 at 13.3%, providing strategic flexibility.
Negative Points
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Revised full-year ROE guidance downward to 23%-25% from high-20s due to slower margin recovery.
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Swap-adjusted NIM declined by 25 basis points to 3% in Q2, with revised full-year guidance to 3.2%-3.5% from around 4%.
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Higher funding costs are expected to persist longer, delaying margin recovery.
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Cost-to-income ratio guidance revised upward to high-40s from low-40s due to net interest income dynamics.
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Early signs of asset quality deterioration are visible across the sector, with net cost of risk at 220 basis points in the first half.
Q & A Highlights
Q: The bank revised its ROE guidance from high-20s to 23%-25% and NIM guidance from around 4% to 3.2%-3.5%. What are the key drivers behind this revision, and when do you expect a gradual improvement in NIM to meet the new guidance? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: The revision is primarily due to the operating environment proving more challenging than anticipated, with the disinflation process progressing more gradually and the expected easing cycle being pushed back. Higher funding costs are persisting for longer, delaying the pace of margin recovery. We expect a gradual improvement in NIM to begin in the third quarter, but mainly in the fourth quarter, hand-in-hand with the Central Bank's decisions. We anticipate the Central Bank will normalize its funding rate to the policy rate of 37%, and with some easing on deposit pricing, we can reach the revised guidance range.
Q: Given the slower pace of capital generation and the focus on capital, could you update us on the IRB process and the potential CET1 benefit? Would you consider lowering the payout this year to preserve capital? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: We are in the process of our IRB application, and we expect approval sometime next year, depending on the BRSA's process. We anticipate around a 2% uplift to our capital ratios (CET1, Tier 1, and CAR). Regarding the dividend, it is too early to talk about next year's payout. However, with our current profitability and growth projections, we believe we can preserve our capital adequacy ratio at current levels. The impact of payouts on capital is quite limited given the current payout ratios.
Q: The collection performance in the second quarter was very strong, effectively offsetting most of the increase in gross NPL inflows. What is driving this, and do you see it as sustainable? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: The strong collection performance was driven by a large, single-ticket collection in the second quarter. In net NPL formation terms, the quarter was similar to the first quarter. We are enhancing our collection capabilities through AI-powered voice agents, which have shown early signals of improving customer engagement and promise-to-pay rates. This supports a more proactive and scalable collection model, reinforcing our disciplined approach to asset quality management.
Q: We've seen some large restructuring defaults in the sector. Has Akbank had exposure to these, and how have you avoided them? Do you see more stress going forward? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: No, we did not have exposure to those specific large defaults. Our restructured portfolio is at a very similar level, and we apply a clear rule set. We will continue to manage our portfolio with the same disciplined philosophy. We haven't seen widespread NPL formation on the corporate side; the stress is mainly on the retail side (consumer, credit cards, unsecured lending) and some parts of SME.
Q: How do you expect the recent loan growth caps to affect the pace of loan book repricing? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: The growth caps are putting some limitation. Our focus is on growing the loan book more on the short-term side to avoid increasing duration mismatch. We were able to increase the back-book yield of our loan book by around 30 basis points by the end of the second quarter while also improving deposit costs. We have seen some improvement in TL loan-to-deposit spreads in the last one or two weeks. We participate in the market when pricing makes sense and refrain from competing if the price is not adequate.
Q: The bank maintained its TL loan growth guidance of over 30% and FX loan growth guidance at high single digits. Is this consistent with the current macro outlook? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: Yes, it is consistent. We are already at 18% TL loan growth year-to-date. Considering the growth caps (e.g., 4.5% for SME, 3% for GPL) and business in exempt areas, achieving over 30% should not be an issue. For FX loan growth, the caps are tighter, but with a 3% first-half realization and potential from exempt single tickets, we expect to end the year around high single digits.
Q: The bank kept its NPL guidance at 3.5%. Given the very tight conditions in the real sector, do you see an upside risk to this? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: We feel confident in our cost of risk guidance of 200 basis points. The NPL ratio is also driven by notional volume, loan growth, and exchange rates. We believe we can manage the NPL at 3.5%, potentially utilizing NPL sales as we did in the first half of the year. The focus is more on the cost of risk side.
Q: The bank's fee income guidance is above 30%. Is there realistic upside to this number, or do you expect a slowdown in the second half? A: Turker Tunali, Senior Vice President - Financial Coordination and International Reporting: We hope to do better than 34% and potentially grow even higher. This will depend on sector growth and loan growth, which is a significant driver of commission income. We will do our best to further improve fee income and meet our 100% fee-to-OpEx ratio target. A potential downside risk could be a cap on the payment system side, but given the stable interest rate environment, we believe we can manage it.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
