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Image source: Getty Images <\/p>\n Image source: Getty Images <\/p>\n
Most investors can quickly reel off the big\u00a0FTSE 100\u00a0banks. There\u2019s Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Standard Chartered\u2026 and now\u00a0Lion Finance Group\u00a0(LSE: BGEO). It only entered the blue-chip index in March, and now it\u2019s rubbing shoulders with the UK\u2019s high street names. Performance wise, it\u2019s knocked them into a cocked hat. Tempted?<\/p>\n
Its origins are far from London. Founded in 1994 after post-Soviet privatisations, it began life as the Bank of Georgia. A London listing followed in 2012, opening the door to deeper capital markets and tighter regulatory oversight. It rebranded to Lion Finance in 2025 after acquiring Ameriabank in Armenia, as it pursues a broader regional footprint.<\/p>\n
Its services are standard banking fare, from lending and payments to wealth management. The difference lies in geography and ambition.<\/p>\n
Like its larger peers, Lion has taken advantage of higher interest rates to widen net margins. All the big banking stocks have flown in recent years, but nothing like this. The Lion Finance share price has surged 887% over the last five years. Only one FTSE 100 name has beaten it in that time, high-flying aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce, up 1,118% over five years. Over 12 months, Lion leads by a neck. It\u2019s up 107%, against 84% for Rolls.<\/p>\n
Rolls-Royce is expensive as a result, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 44. Lion still looks dirt-cheap with a P\/E of just 8.1. That\u2019s incredible, given the growth. It\u2019s much smaller operation of course, with a market-cap of \u00a34.8bn against \u00a3104bn for Rolls.<\/p>\n
In February, Lion reported record 2025 net profit, up 20.9% to GEL2.2bn (\u00a3600m), driven by a strong showing in both Georgia and Armenia. The full-year return on equity hit 28.4%, which is roughly double the return of the major UK banks. Today\u2019s market-cap is \u00a34.8bn.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an exciting opportunity. But as is so often the case, comes with greater potential volatility. Georgia\u2019s recent history is somewhat turbulent. In 2024, mass protests erupted in Tbilisi amid fears of electoral vote rigging, and plans for EU accession are currently on hold. The country remains split between pro-EU and pro-Russian factions, a tension that continues to unsettle investors. Especially given events in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the single biggest risk but there are others. Earnings come in local currencies, adding a layer of risk, and the business still leans heavily on two fledgling markets. The growth could keep rolling in if it expands into other eastern European countries, but expansion isn\u2019t without risks either.<\/p>\n
The big FTSE 100 banks are prized for their dividend income, but with a yield of 2.6%, Lion Finance is more of a growth play. That said, the 2024 dividend was increased by 12.5%, and the first-half 2025 payout was hiked by a thumping 50%.<\/p>\n
Investors might consider buying Lion Finance for diversification and long-term growth potential. Don\u2019t get carried away though. The shares may struggle to continue its breakneck pace. Politics, geography and currency all add uncertainty that we don\u2019t get with UK-focused Lloyds or NatWest. It\u2019s an exciting addition to the FTSE 100, but only for the lion-hearted.<\/p>\n
The post Up 887% with a P\/E of just 8! Meet the eye-popping FTSE 100 bank that\u2019s smashing Rolls-Royce<\/a> appeared first on The Motley Fool UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n More reading<\/p>\n HSBC Holdings is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Harvey Jones has positions in Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Rolls-Royce Plc. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Rolls-Royce Plc, and Standard Chartered Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.<\/a><\/p>\n Motley Fool UK 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image source: Getty Images Most investors can quickly reel off the big\u00a0FTSE 100\u00a0banks. There\u2019s Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[320,7954,7956,7955,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-17016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-ftse-100","9":"tag-lion-finance","10":"tag-lion-finance-group","11":"tag-natwest","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116430593227184005","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}