I Lion Finance (LSE:BGEO) share price rose again, making it a FTSE 250The biggest riser is Wednesday (February 25). At £110.40 per share, the bank’s stock is up 7% on the day.
Shareholders have become accustomed to this kind of extraordinary performance. The stock known as Bank of Georgia has gained more than 1,000% over the past five years.
That’s an amazing result by any measure. But to put it in other contexts, Lloyds‘ share price increased 165% during that period. Barclays again NatWest on the other hand they increased by 191% and 206%, respectively.
The question is, could Lion Finance be the best bank share on the London stock market?
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Profits jump
It rallied again today after releasing better-than-forecast trading numbers last year.
By 2025, the company – which provides banking services in Georgia and Armenia – saw interest income increase by 26% to GEL3bn. Strong economic growth in these emerging markets drove consumer lending and deposits up 20% and 17%, respectively.
As a result, underlying profit increased by 28% year-on-year, reaching GEL2.2m. Lion said its priority is “driven by strong loan book expansion, customer franchise growth, and continued profitability across all core business segments.”
Share purchases
Like all of them FTSE 100A leading bank, Lion Finance has strong financial foundations. And at the end of 2025 its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 17.6%.
This provides greater financial leverage to invest for growth. But it doesn’t end there. It also provides an opportunity for the bank to pay large and growing dividends and initiate large share buybacks.
Lion raised its full-year dividend by 16.7% in 2025, and today announced a further share buyback worth GEL53.5m, bringing last year’s total to GEL203m.
This is in line with the bank’s goal of returning 30% to 50% of annual profits to shareholders, and gave the share price a further boost.
Is Lion Finance the best bank?
Opinions will differ as to whether this is the best bank stock in the UK and the concept of ‘best’ is, of course, entirely subjective. But I think a case can be opened. I personally like it more than UK-focused banks like Lloyds. That’s because of its high growth prospects and the ability to keep the stock prices performing well.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t potential challenges here. Political differences in Georgia between pro-EU and pro-EU political forces create policy uncertainty. And they probably won’t be solved anytime soon. The end result could have serious consequences for Georgia’s economy and Lion’s profits.
But can this be factored into the current cheapness of bank shares? I think so, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.7 times lower than any of these FTSE 100 banks.
On balance, I think the FTSE 250 is the top stock to consider right now. But it’s not the only high-growth stock that’s caught my eye.
