Turkey's participation banks' net profits soared 32.9 percent in 2018, compared with the previous year.

The net profit of banks totaled nearly TL 2.1 billion, according to data compiled from Turkey's banking watchdog and unconsolidated balance sheets.

The assets of Kuveyt Türk, Albaraka, Türkiye Finans, Ziraat and Vakıf soared 29.1 percent to reach TL 206.6 billion as of December on a yearly basis. Their deposits also rose 30.1 percent to TL 136.6 billion as of December, compared with the same month last year.

Loans issued by the banks rose 15 percent to reach nearly TL 112.5 billion during 2018 on a yearly basis. Of the five banks, Kuveyt Türk saw the highest net profit with TL 869.8 million, up by 29 percent year-on-year.

Türkiye Finans recorded TL 444.75 million in net profit. State-run Vakıf's net profit reached TL 325.4 million. State-run Ziraat Bank and private lender Albaraka followed with TL 322.66 million and TL 133.97 million net profits, respectively.

Participation banks' regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets ratio, a significant indicator to figure out minimum capital requirements of lenders, was 15.75 percent as of December.

The number of the five banks' domestic and international branches was 1,122, while they employed about 15,654 staff members as of end of last year.

The Turkish participation-banking sector is expected to grow 30 percent in 2019, Osman Akyüz, head of the Participation Banks Association of Turkey, said in February.

Meanwhile, the Turkish banking sector, including all type of lenders, posted a TL 53.8 billion net profit in the 12-month period. Turkey's banking sector assets totaled TL 3.87 trillion. The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.27 as of the end of 2018.