The FTSE100 will receive modern shares in the bank this month by joining HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, AND Standard chartered in the British Prime Minister’s Index. This is the lender’s reward for the incredible raise in the share price 877% over the last five years.

Dividends amount to a total return well north of 1000% over this period!

Let’s take a closer look at this modern Footsie to see if it’s worth considering purchasing.

Rocket on the London Stock Exchange

The stocks in question are Lion Financial Group (LSE:BGEO), formerly Bank of Georgia. In two weeks, when the final changes will take place, it will be listed on the FTSE 100 stock exchange. It will be joined by an online trading platform IG Groupwhile the airline easyJet AND Hikma pharmaceutical company will fall off.

What caused this amazing performance? Put simply, Lion Finance has benefited from the extremely forceful Georgian economy.

From 2021 to 2024, GDP growth averaged over 9% annually, supported by financial inflows, low inflation, higher consumption, an influx of skilled migrants fleeing the war in Ukraine, growing tourism and the country’s location as a trade and logistics center between the East and the West.

The bank took full advantage of these favorable conditions, increasing profits at a five-year compound annual rate of approximately 50%. Dividends and stock buybacks were plentiful, which attracted more investors to the stock.

The second driver of rapid growth was the acquisition of Ameriabank (a leading bank in neighboring Armenia) in 2024.

I sold too quickly

Unfortunately, I already owned these shares, but I sold them at the end of 2024, when everything started in Georgia after the announcement of the disputed election results. This led to massive public protests that gathered across the country amid accusations of vote rigging. Things looked very uncertain then.

With the country’s entry into the European Union on hold and the government facing international scrutiny, I was concerned that political unrest might lead to a decline in foreign direct investment and tourism. Personally, I was postponing my visit to Tbilisi at that time.

However, while logical, my fears were ultimately proven wrong. Last year, Georgia’s economy grew by 7.5%. And although this marked a slowdown compared to previous years, Georgia remains one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and the Caucasus, just like Armenia.

Lion Finance’s 2025 net profit increased by 21% to GEL 2.2 billion (approximately £600 million), with an exceptional average return on equity of 28.4%. The number of monthly vigorous users of retail digital services increased by 15% in Georgia, reaching over 1.8 million, compared to just 355,000 in 2019.

Meanwhile, Ameriabank’s monthly vigorous digital users increased by 45.3% to 336,000, and unit profit increased by 23.6%.

Value on offer

It’s clear that the bank has been firing on all cylinders in recent years. But is it worth considering a company’s shares when they enter the FTSE 100? I think this is the case despite the above-mentioned political threats that could erupt at any time between pro-Russian and EU-affiliated political factions.

The forward price-to-earnings ratio is just six, well below the average of the FTSE 100 and other banking stocks. Combine this with a very well-covered 3.5% dividend yield, and I see a lot of value to offer here.

Note: The International Monetary Fund forecasts Georgia’s GDP to grow by 5% in the medium term. Additionally, Armenia offers great long-term growth in digital banking. Currently, Ameriabank’s digital penetration is only around 11% of the total population.