Turkey's state-owned lender Ziraat Bank saw profits surge by 22 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, reaching 4.05 billion Turkish lira ($1.6 billion), Anadolu Agency reported.
Ziraat's CEO Huseyin Aydin said in a written statement Tuesday that the bank's loans increased by 28 percent, reaching 142 billion lira ($57 billion) in 2014, including 28 billion lira for the agriculture sector.
On Oct. 15, 2014, Ziraat Bank received permission from the Turkish banking regulator to set up a bank based on Islamic financial principles with a capital of $300 million.
Ziraat, the country's largest lender, employs more than 24,000 people in 1,700 branches.
There are 57 branches in foreign countries including Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., Georgia, Bulgaria and Greece.